Well This Was Unexpected
by lady-warrioress
Summary: A certain vampire femme comes back for revenge but an accident with the space bridge makes that complicated. Now Prowl and Sari must find the vampire and figure out how to get back to their own dimension before a certain alien uses the technology himself
1. Chapter 1

**Just to let you know this is not a sequel to my Vertigo fic though it does have my character from it. This is just something I'm writing to deal with a certain little plot bunny. **

Chap 1

Sari ran her fingers over the keyboard on the control console for the Sumdac tower space bridge. Behind her Prowl paced, trying to remember the exact co-ordinance for the location he wanted to visit. Sari wasn't exactly sure where he wanted to go or why he wanted to go there but she did as he asked and typed them in. If he didn't want to tell her he didn't have to, but she was sure he would if she bothered him enough.

"Did you say 483 or 348?" she asked after a moment.

"Neither," he replied, looking over at her. "I said QRBHT6."

"Oh.." she stopped. "Oops."

"What oops?" he walked over to the computer and looked over her shoulder at the screen. "What kind of co-ordinance are those?"

"I don't know," she replied, looking up at him. "I just wrote what I heard."

"How is rama lama ding dong even relatively close to what I said?" he demanded, frowning at the screen.

"Oops," she pressed the back button and deleted the typos. "Sorry about that I kind of spaced out."

He folded his arms. "I'd hate to image where I might have ended up if I had gone into the bridge with those co-ordinance."

The techno organic girl shrugged. "Who knows," she typed in what Prowl had said after he repeated it, slowly this time so she wouldn't mess up. "Okay I think I got it right this time. Let's just fire this thing up and see what happens." She pressed the ENTER key.

Prowl lifted his head and watched the bright blue sphere activate between the two orange yellow prongs on the space bridge. It seemed to be working perfectly. Suddenly something shot out of the orb. Some large and black.

"What's that?" Sari asked, watching the thing, hovering above them.

She got her answer a few seconds later when the thing, which looked like a black and red jet, transformed, becoming a robot similar in design to Starscream but with a few differences. Without any kind of provocation it pulled a huge gun out of nowhere and started firing at them. Prowl moved quickly, grabbing up Sari and jumping out of the way of the blast.

They landed at the base of the bridge. "Are you all right, Sari?" Prowl asked, looking at her.

"I'm fine," she said.

"Not for long!"

Prowl looked up. The seeker robot hovered over them, grinning wickedly. "Hi, my little toy," it called to Prowl. "Didn't think you'd see me again, did you?"

The cyber ninja knew right away who it was. "Shadowstar!"

The femme vampire grinned. "So you still remember my name." she put her hand on her chest and made a sappy face. "I'm touched."

"What are you doing here?" he asked. "I thought they locked you up in the stockade."

"I got out with a little help from a friend," she told him. The femme dived. "But you won't be around long enough to find out who it was."

Prowl quickly sent Sari down and jumped at Shadowstar before she could get to him. He tackled her at the waist, knocking her out of the sky and to the roof. They landed on the control panel, breaking off some of the computer keys. Prowl ended up on top, thus gaining the advantage. He pinned her down easily. "It looks like you've lost some power since you were put in the stockade," he told her. "Or is it just because I am more powerful?"

She glared at him, bearing her fangs. "How about I take that power from you?!" Then sunk her teeth into his arm.

Lucky for him he was wearing the armor he'd stolen from Lockdown or he would have been drained. Instead the only thing that lost power was the arm guard but still the movement was enough to startle him. He jerked his arm back, releasing her. She saw her chance and punched him in the face.

He yelped and fell back a step, loosening his grip on her. She kicked him in the stomach plating, knocking him off. Before he could recover she launched herself forward, slamming into him and knocking him to the floor. He attempted to knock her off but she had a iron hold on his arms and the best he could do was struggle.

"I've been waiting stellar cycles for this," she said, baring her fangs. "The thought of making you suffer for sending me back to that pithole kept me from going offline." she leaned toward him, grinning evilly. "This time I won't make the same mistake twice."

But before she could sink in her fangs a orb of blue energy smashed into her head. Shrieking, she raised her head and looked around for the person responsible. Her optics focused on Sari. The girl's hands were glowing and it was obvious she was the one who had thrown the projectile. "You!" she exclaimed, startled. The little hairless monkey was a robot?!

"Yes me," Sari said, charging up another orb. "and if you want to keep your head attached to your neck you'll get away from Prowl!"

The femme hissed. "I've got a better idea," she said, loosening her grip on Prowl's arms. "How about I drain you instead, techno freak!" She lunged at the girl.

Sari moved quickly, using her smaller size to her advantage. The vampire femme missed her by inches, crashing into the control panel for the space bridge. The screen lit up with a set of coordinates written down when she'd smashed into the keys. She quickly got back up and chased after the girl. By then Prowl had recovered and went after Shadowstar, throwing some shurikens to get her attention.

One lodged in her shoulder and she shrieked. Forgetting Sari, she re-focused on her true target. Prowl.

"Come here, Prowl," she coaxed, dislodging the star and stalking toward him. "I have something special I want to give you."

He jumped into the air, throwing more stars at her. She dodged to avoid them but got hit by another energy blast from Sari. '"Two against one isn't playing fair," she growled, charging at Sari.

Just then Prowl swooped in and caught Sari up in his arms. At that moment Shadowstar slammed into him, knocking him backward. What none of them noticed was that they'd gotten close to the space bridge which was still active. The moment the Decepticon energy vampire crashed into Prowl and Sari the orb in the bridge expanded. The next instant all three other them were sucked into the orb.

The last thing Prowl saw before his optics went blank was a explosion then a bright blue light. After that.. complete darkness.

* * *

"Prowl, Prowl wake up!" the cyber ninja heard a voice calling him. "Please Prowl! I need you!"

Prowl's optics flickered then activated, coming to focus on Sari who was leaning over him, looking worried. "W-what happened?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," she said, nervously looking around them. "But I don't think we're in Detroit anymore."

_Huh? _he tried to sit up but his arm gave out and he fell back. Above him was a dark blue canopy of stars. Wherever they were it was night time.

"Here," Sari said, offering her hand. "Let me help you."

He raised his hand, wondering how Sari was ever going to help him sit up with her size, and was surprised when she wrapped her entire hand around his wrist and pulled. He sat up and found himself making eye contact with her... almost as if... Just then he realized that he wasn't as tall as he should have been. Either Sari had grown fifteen feet or he'd shrunk. It was more likely that he'd shrunk somehow.. but it still made no sense.

He gaped at himself then looked at Sari who shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "You were that big when we got here." she looked around again. "Wherever here is."

Prowl allowed himself his own study of the surrounding area. They were in a city. But not like Detroit at all. This city was much bigger and all the buildings were made of the same dark blue substance. What made it stranger was that there were people, but not in the traditional sense. Most of these were not humans, but strange humanoid things with multiple sets of eyes and different shades of skin and... fur? Yes, the tall moaning guy was covered in a dark, brown fur.

Prowl had never been to a place like this in his entire existence. That's when he realized that they were in an alley and none of the people on the street noticed them or cared. But he cared. He knew that some, if not all, of those people knew where they were. He needed to know as well. If he did he wouldn't feel so lost.

Getting up with some help from Sari, he made his way out of the alley and onto the street. Sari stayed with him, not wanting to be left alone in such a strange place. If they stayed together they wouldn't get lost, not that they weren't lost already just being there.

"Excuse me," Prowl said, grabbing the shoulder of the first person who walked by. "Could I ask you a quick question?"

"Yeah?" it said, turning to face him. It gave him a quick once over but didn't seem surprised to see a talking robot. "What do you want?"

"Can you tell us where we are?" he asked.

"Where you are?" the green skinned alien looked surprised that he didn't know. "This is the Trade World."

"Trade World?" Prowl and Sari looked at each other. "Where is that?"

"In the Galactic Alliance," the alien replied, noticing the looks on their faces. "What? You never heard of it? Where did you come from? Another dimension or something?"

"You could say that," Sari replied, looking sheepish.

The alien stared at her for a moment then turned and walked away. The two friends watched him go then looked at each other. "So what now?" Sari questioned.

Prowl rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Now that we know where we are maybe we can find somebody who knows how to get us back," he said. "We just have to find somebody who looks like they know a lot." he started walking. "Let's go."

The girl followed, staying close. "Hey, Prowl,"she said after a moment. "I was wondering. What happened to the freaky energy vampire?"

Prowl stopped, remembering the crazy fembot. "That's right," he said. "She fell through the portal with us." he looked around them. "If we wound up here."

"Then she did too!"

* * *

"Ma'am? Ma'am? Hey, wake up lady!"

Shadowstar felt somebody poking her in the face. She did not like being poked and swatted at the hand. She activated her optics and found herself staring at a strange looking robot with a boxy type body and a cylinder head. She stared at it for a moment, trying to figure out what she was seeing. The femme had never seen a robot that looked like this before. "What are you?" she asked.

"Oh good! You're online!" the little robot squealed. "I thought that fall might have broken you or something." it lifted her arm and scanned it. "Nope. Nothing broken."

"Fall?" she asked, jerking her arm away. "What fall?"

"Poor girl, doesn't even know what fall she took," the little robot said. It pointed a clawed hand into the air. "You fell from up there and crashed here. Oh man, it looked like it hurt! Fortunately nothing broke."

She groaned, getting to her feet and rubbing her head. She looked up at the sky. It was night time but that wasn't the only thing she noticed. The sky looked funny. "Where am I?" she asked.

"Oh my! you must have really hit your head after all!" the little robot exclaimed. "You're on Trade World."

"Trade World?" she asked, looking down at him, confused. She had never heard of a planet with that name.

"Yeah in the Galactic Alliance," it explained.

"I see." she lowered her head because staring upward too long hurt her neck. Just then a jolt shot through her and she fell to her knees in pain.

"Are you all right?" the little robot questioned, worriedly.

"No," she moaned, clenching her teeth together. "I'm low on power. I need energy."

"Energy?" it asked. "What kind?"

She lifted her head, her expression changing from pained to hungry. "Yours will do." she answered, smiling.

"Mine?" the robot looked confused. "Don't be silly. You couldn't possibly want my energy, it's-"

"Oh, but I do," she said hungrily. She reached out to grab it. "Now why don't you just hold still. This will only take a second."

The robot rolled away form her on wheeled feet, suddenly panicky. It had heard rumors about an energy vampire running around the city and now it seemed it had found it. "Now wait just a minute!" it exclaimed as she walked toward it, licking her lip components. "You don't want my energy! It's no good!"

"I'm not picky," she replied, grabbing it.

"No!" in desperation the robot shoved at her. She wasn't expecting it and was knocked off her feet. The little robot saw it's chance and bolted.

Growling, Shadowstar got to her feet and gave chase, not about to be denied her dinner.

* * *

With the knowledge that Shadowstar might have wound up in the same place that they had in their minds they decided it would be a real good idea to look for her. The last thing they needed was a rogue energy vampire running around this place, feeding on machines. And there were plenty of machines. Robots, robot, robots. Robots working in the casino's, robots serving sodas to passers by, and even robots there on vacation with their robot families. It was an energy vampire schmorgisborg.

"I would hate to see what would happen to all those machines if she got hungry," Sari said as they passed by a robot couple holding hands with a smiling, blue haired human girl.

"I don't want to think about it," Prowl said, looking around himself. "If she decides to feed we might be the only ones who will be able to stop her."

"But first we have to _find_ her," Sari pointed out. "and I don't think that's going to be easy."

Prowl nodded, knowing she was right. This was a big city. Shadowstar could have landed anywhere. "Let's just hope she doesn't need to feed." he said, tightening his grip on her hand. "In fact let's hope she isn't even_ online_."

"What are the odds of us being that lucky?" she asked him.

He paused a moment to think. Doing so caused annoyed looks to cross people's faces because he was blocking the sidewalk. "If I was completely honest," he said. "I would say about one hundred to one."

She sighed. "I knew it."

* * *

"Where are you, my little snack?" Shadowstar called, searching the alleys for the little robot. "I know you're here. Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

The little robot, who was hiding behind a dumpster, started shaking as it listened to the vampire fembot search for it, even though it tried not to. It knew she would get to where it was sooner or later but it couldn't moved. Not just from fear but because if it did she would see it. So it stayed put, hoping she would not find it.

"I know you're here," she said, still searching. "You can't hide forever. If you come put now I promise not to make this painful.." she paused a moment. She thought she heard a strange metallic dinging sound. She moved toward the sound, behind a large black dumpster. "Hmm..."

* * *

"Maybe we should ask somebody," Sari suggested after a moment.

"Like who?" Prowl asked, looking at her.

Sari pointed at some people at an ice cream stand. "How about them?" she suggested. "They might know something."

Prowl studied the people for a moment. Some big, red skinned thing in a strange outfit and blond girl in a pink dress. He doubted they might have seen her but he figured he'd humor Sari. "All right," he consented, walking toward them.

"Excuse me."

The giant red thing and the girl turned to him. Now Prowl saw that the blond girl he'd mistaken for a human wasn't a human at all. It was a little gray skinned alien. "Uh.. can I ask you something?"

"Uh sure," the big red thing said. "What do you want to ask us?"

"This might sound like a strange question but you didn't happen to see a black and red robot with wings flying around have you?" Prowl questioned.

The red thing looked thoughtful. "A black and red robot with wings?" he shook his head. "No I haven't. Sorry."

"Oh," Prowl said, not very disappointed. "Sorry for bothering you then." he turned to Sari and shrugged. She sighed and then the two started walking away.

"Sorry I couldn't be of any help!" the red thing called after them.

"So much for that," Sari said.

"It might not be a good idea to ask anymore people," Prowl said, looking back.

"Why?"

The cyber ninja shook his head. "Never mind." What he didn't say was that the red thing had turned to watch them and the look on his face was very unnerving. "Let's just keep looking."

But they didn't get much further. A voice suddenly called to them. "Hey!"

Prowl and Sari turned around just as the little girl thing in the pink dress came running up to them with the big red thing not too far behind. "Excuse me," the little girl said, looking up at them. "Maybe I ask you a question?"

"I guess," Prowl said, wondering what the girl wanted.

"Why are you looking for a robot like that?" she wanted to know.

"Well." Prowl hesitated. He wasn't sure he should tell this little girl or her comrade why. He wasn't sure how they would react. They might even think he was crazy.

"Come on, Prowl," Sari said, jerking on his arm. "They might be able to help us."

Prowl decided to chance it. "The robot we're looking for is an energy vampire."

By the looks on creatures faces Prowl knew he'd said the wrong thing.

* * *

The little robot had not heard the vampire femme make any noise in the past few minutes. He started thinking the coast was clear and started to roll out.

"Ah hah!"

The bot jumped and turned its head. The fembot vampire was looking down at him with that wicked grin on her face. "Found you, you naughty little bot." she reached out to grab him. "Now hold still, this will only hurt a little."

Her hand rested on the top of its head the same instant another one did. "Huh?" she stared at the hand for a moment then lifted her head.

She found herself staring into the triangular face of another robot. This one was about the same size as her but different in design. It seemed to hover there and from what she could see it didn't have any legs or feet. But she couldn't be sure because most of it's body was covered by a black cape. The look on its face mirrored her own. Shock and confusion. It was obvious it hadn't expected anyone else to be after the little robot but itself.

_A/N_

_I'm writing this for fun. No other reason really. I doubt I'll get a lot of reviews for this one but I don't really care.I will figure out why Prowl and Shadowstar's sizes changed later on. It isn't that complicated.  
_


	2. Chapter 2

CHAP 2

"An energy vampire?" the big red one exclaimed, his eyes bugging out. "Why would you be looking for an _energy vampire_?!"

"It's... complicated," Prowl answered. He thought for a moment then explained. "You see it kind of wound up coming with us when we- Ow!" He looked down at Sari who had jabbed him with her elbow. She shook her head, a clear message that it wouldn't be a good idea to tell them about the space bridge. "We need to find it before it activates and starts feeding on the local robot population."

The red thing didn't say anything for a moment. He seemed to be trying to figure out why a robot would be looking for something that could eat it. "Aren't you worried that it will.. you know bite you?" it asked. He pointed. "You're not exactly out of its food chain."

"Yes," Prowl admitted. "But I've dealt with it before. I know what I'm doing."

The red thing looked at Sari. "Do you really want to send your robot to do that?" he asked. "Aren't you worried it might-"

Sari laughed. "He's not my robot," she told the thing. "He's my friend. The only robot I own it a dog." she patted Prowl's arm. "I'm not very worried about Prowl here getting himself bitten. Like he said he's fought the vampire before. It's not that hard to beat once you know the weakness."

"You know it's weakness?" The alien looked surprised.

Prowl was wondering why this thing seemed so interested in his and Sari's problem. The more they talked the more upset the little alien girl seemed to get so she obviously wasn't happy hearing about it. Her big black eyes got bigger the further they got into the discussion. "Umm are you sure you want to talk about this in front of her?" he asked pointing at the girl.

The red thing looked at the other alien. "Oh don't worry about that," he said, reaching down and picking her up. "Becky's dealt with worse things than energy vampire. I mean she's had Zurg invade her planet and didn't even lose her head."

"Zurg?" Sari asked, looking confused. "What is that?"

The red thing shot them a startled look. "You mean you've never heard of the Evil Emperor Zurg?" he gasped. "He's only the most evil being to ever step off a starship!"

Prowl and Sari looked at each other. "I thought that was Megatron," the techno organic girl commented.

"Maybe they never heard of Megatron here," the cyber ninja suggested.

"Who is Megatron?" the little girl named Becky wanted to know.

Prowl almost told her then thought better of it. It was clear that the beings in this dimension had never heard of the Decepticon Commander and telling them about it might cause unneeded panic or worse. It was best if they kept that to themselves. "Nobody," Prowl explained. "anyway. Now that you know what and why we are after this thing can you tell us something or were you just asking us those questions because you were curious?"

"Well I don't exactly _know_ where the energy vampire it," the thing replied. "But I _do_ know somebody who might be able to help you find it."

"Really?"

"Sure," it said, turning away from her and heading back the way it had come. "Just follow me."

Prowl hesitated. He wasn't sure he wanted to do that. He didn't exactly trust this red being or it's little friend. He looked at Sari who shrugged. "Maybe they do know somebody," she said. "It couldn't hurt to be sure and if they try something it shouldn't be too hard to take care of them."

"All right," he consented.

The two Autobots hurried to catch up with the aliens.

* * *

"Would you mind taking your hand off the robot?" Shadowstar demanded once she recovered from her shock.

"Why?" the other robot asked, its voice male sounding with a British accent. "What could you possibly want with it?"

"Not that it's any of your business but that robot happens to be my dinner," the femme replied shortly. She yanked on the little robots head. "Now hand it over."

"_You're_ dinner?" The other robot tightened his grip on it, not about to comply with the order. "I am afraid you are mistaken, this robot is _my _dinner," he shot back. He gave it a hard yank, pulling it closer to himself. "I saw it first and I intend to feed."

"Funny," she said, yanking it back. "I was thinking the same thing! and you did _not _see it first! I've been chasing after this morsole for the past half hour."

"Oh no, I am afraid you are mistaken, my dear," the robot replied. "I have had my eye on this little treat for the past half hour."

"You did not!"

"I did too!"

Their faces were nearly touching now. Both bared their fangs and growled. The other robots growl sounded better. It actually hurt Shadowstar's audio receptors. He noticed her flinch and gave the robot a good, hard yank, pulling it out of her hands before she knew what had happened.

Now he held the robot in both hands and floated some distance away from her. "It's mine!" he shouted then laughed.

The Decepticon energy vampire recovered quickly and lunged at him, grabbing the little robot by it's legs. "Let go!" she ordered, attempting to pull the robot out of his grip. "This robot is mine!"

The other robot held on tight to his prize's arms, refusing to let it go after he'd gained it. "Find your own energy!" he shouted at her. "You lost claim to this when you lost your grip!"

"I only lost my grip because you screamed in my face!" she shot back, her optics flashing in anger. "Follow your own advice and get your own bot!" she yanked again, bracing her feet against the ground so he couldn't get away so easily. "Now let the robot go!"

"Oh fine." and he did just as he was told.

Shadowstar, who was still pulling, didn't expect that and flew backward, slamming hard into the pavement. When she hit the ground she lost her grip on the little robot who bounced once then took off. The other robot vampire gave chase, flying past her as she got up.

"Oh no, you _don't!" _she yelled, activating her thrusters and shooting after him.

* * *

The red thing led Prowl and Sari down the street toward a less crowded part of town. On the way he stopped to drop the girl off at a hotel where an alien that looked similar to Becky picked her up and headed inside. After that they took another street then came upon a white torpedo shaped ship.

Prowl studied the vehicle for a moment. Compared to Cybertronian transportation it loked a bit.. primitive. "Is the person inside there?" he asked the red thing.

It nodded and gestured for them to follow it into the ship. Prowl got a really bad feeling but when Sari started to go after the alien he followed, not wanting her to go in there by herself. Once they were inside Prowl said, folding his arms. "Okay, so where is this person?"

"Just a moment." and the alien ducked out of the room.

The moment he stepped out of the room the door behind them slid shut, making them both jump. "Uh oh," Sari said.

A pair of throwing stars appeared in Prowl's hand, the pointy ends sticking out between his fingers. He was on full alert, expecting something to happen. Sari followed his lead and charged up an orb, her eyes darting around, looking for something hostile to shoot at.

For a moment nothing happened and Prowl began to wonder if he might just be acting too cautious.

That all changed a second later when cables came out of the walls and tried to wrap themselves around the two. Sari freaked out and started shooting orb after orb at the cables in an attempt to keep them away from herself.

Prowl threw some of his shurikens at the cables, cutting them in half. But the more he cut, the more came to replace them. He was fighting a losing battle.

"Prowl!" Sari yelled.

He turned his head just in time to see the techno organic girl, tangled up in cables, be lifted off the floor.

"Sari!" he called, raising his arm to throw one of the stars at cables. Just then one of the cables wrapped around his wrist, pulling him back. He turned to cut it but when he did more surrounded him and wrapped around his body. As he fought to free himself he was yanked off the floor and into the air where he was then hung next to Sari. Only, unlike her, his arms were suspended over his head. The cables tightened around his wrists until his hands opened and he dropped his weapons. They clattered to the floor.

Just then the door that the red alien had ducked out of opened and it, along with three other figures, stepped inside.

"Is this what you do to everyone who asks for your help?" Prowl demanded looking down at him.

The red thing started to speak but one of the other beings, this one looked like a human put out his arm and silenced him. "I'll handle this," the human said. He walked forward until he was standing under Sari and Prowl, who looked down at him with hostile eyes. "I am Buzz Lightyear," he introduced himself, putting his hand on his chest. "I am sorry for the rude welcome but we can't be too careful about these things."

"What things?" Sari demanded, glaring down at him as she wiggled around in a vain attempt to break free from her bindings. "Visitors? If you do this to all the people you meet you're not going to have any friends."

The smallest of the beings, a boxy looking creature burst out laughing. "She got you there."

The one called Buzz ignored the smaller being, instead choosing to focus his full attention on his captives. "Booster here tells me that you've been asking about an energy vampire," he went on. "Why would you want to find it?"

"I would be all to willing to tell you why," Prowl answered, struggling to free himself. "If you would kindly release us from these cables."

"I'm afraid I can't do that." he didn't sound the least bit sorry.

"Well you'd better do it," Sari shot back, still wiggling around in her cocoon. "Or I'll break these tentacles apart and feed them to you!"

"Now now, young lady, an attitude like that won't get you what you want." Buzz scolded. "If you want me to shut down the cables you will answer my questions."

"Who gave you the author-"

"Fine," Prowl cut her off. She looked at him, her eyes wide. "Prowl, you can't be serious!" she exclaimed. The look he gave her told her that he was indeed serious. She fell silent.

Prowl looked back at Buzz. "We are trying to find the energy vampire because we're the one responsible for it coming here."

By the looks on their faces he realized saying such a thing might have been a mistake. "_You_ brought the energy vampire here?" The red thing whose name was Booster exclaimed.

"We didn't mean to," Prowl answered quickly. "It was an accident."

"Some accident!" the smallest one scoffed. "Bringing that vampire here doesn't sound like an accident to me," He pointed up at Prowl. "You're a robot. You should have known better than to let him loose in the city!"

"Hey!" Sari shouted. "It's not _our_ fault the space bridge sent us here! It wasn't like we _chose_ to bring a power eating freak to your oh so perfect planet."

"Oh and you didn't _choose_ to allow Nos-4-A2 to come back to life either," it shot back.

Prowl's optics flickered. "Nos-4-A2?" he said.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" the fourth being, a blue skinned female shouted, stepping forward and getting between the Autobots at her comrades. "Instead of us shouting at each other like children why don't we discuss this in a more civilized fashion?" then she turned toward their captives and aimed her arm at them. "Okay, spill. Who made you bring Nos-4-A2 here and for what reason? Was it Zurg? And don't lie or I will be forced to blow off your head."

Prowl noticed a little red light blinking on her arm. _A laser. _"I already told you what happened," he replied. "It was an accident"

"Ennt! Wrong answer!"

She probably would have shot them but Buzz put his hand on her arm and stopped her. "Enough Mira," he said.

"Oh sorry," she said. lowering her arm and smiling sheepishly. "Got a little over dramatic there."

Buzz turned back to them. "Why don't you tell us who made you bring it here?"

Prowl didn't answer. He didn't feel like repeating himself.

"No answer? That's a shame."

* * *

Shadowstar chased after the other energy vampire and her lost prey. She was determined not to let this wanna be steal something that was rightfully hers.

The chase went on for a few more minutes until the little robot ran into a dead end alley. The other vampire got to him first. He smiled in triumph and reach out to grab it. Before he could, Shadowstar caught the edge of his cape and gave it a sharp yank, pulling him away from the robot. She swung him around then let go. He flew in the opposite direction and crashed into some garbage cans.

"Maybe next time you won't wear a cape!" she shouted before turning her attention on the thing she was really after. She walked up to the robot who began to shake. Smirking she picked him up and held him before her. "Don't worry, tiny, this will only hurt for a moment."

But just before she could bite it the other vampire came up behind her and wrapped his arm around her neck. She shrieked in surprise and let the robot go. But the vampire didn't let go of her. He grabbed her head with his other hand and started yanking backward. She grabbed his arms and tried to pry him loose. It felt like he was trying to break her neck.

"I don't give up so easily," he told her before shocking her with some plasma energy.

She screamed in agony. He kept that up for a moment then let her go. She fell to her knees, her head filling with static. While she tried to recover the other vampire grabbed up the little robot. "I am so sorry you had to go through all of that," he said to it, the tone he used saying he really wasn't. "Here, let me put you out of your misery." then he bit into it.

Shadowstar heard the little robot squeeling and lifted her head just as the other robot let it go. The now drained machine clattered to the ground. "Lovely," her rival said, wiping off his mouth.

"No!" Cheated of her meal she got to her feet and stalked over to the vampire. "How _dare _you!" she screamed.

He looked at her just as she lunged at him. He couldn't react fast enough and managed to grab him. They crashed to the ground, her on top. "You took my prey so now I'm going to prey on you!"

* * *

Their captor's stepped out of the room, leaving Prowl and Sari where they were, wrapped in cables, suspended in the air.

Sari struggled to free herself, even resorting to biting the cables in her attempt to get out. All she got for her troubles was a sore jaw. _Rats! What are these things made of? Anamantium? _She noticed Prowl wasn't doing anything. He was just hanging there, looking thoughtful. "Prowl?"

He lifted his head as if her voice has startled him. The cyber ninja looked over at her.

"What is wrong?"

"I don't know," he replied. "It might not be anything.. but... didn't it seem odd that they kept calling Shadowstar Nos-4-A2?"

"Not really," she answered. "Maybe that's the name they came up with for her since they never got to find out her real name."

"But that's not the only thing," he replied, thoughtfully. "Shadowstar is a femme bot and yet the little robot called the vampire they mentioned a he. It isn't hard to figure out what kind of gender Shadowstar is since her frame distinctly says female."

"Maybe they never got close enough to realize that?" she questioned. "From far away you can't really tell unless she says something to you."

"Maybe," he consented. "But we don't know."

"Too bad we can't ask them."

He perked up then. "Or maybe we can."

The girl looked at him suspiciously. "What do you mean?"

He didn't answer. But only because he had started humming.

"Oh."

_A/N_

_I am so in the zone writing about the Transformers characters that keeping them in character is relatively easy. As for the BLOSC characters.. it's a bit harder because I have to stop and wrack my brain for ten minutes trying to figure out the right things to make them say and do. Buzz is actually the easiest. I am calling Sari an Autobot because it makes things easier at certain parts. Since she's a robot anyway it isn't too hard to think of her as one. _


	3. Chapter 3

CHAP 3

"Release me, you wench!" the robot vampire shouted, struggling to free himself from Shadowstar's grip.

She wasn't going to let him go so easily. "Oh I'll free you," she said, baring her fangs. "After I drain all your energy and leave you a useless husk!" when he tried to wiggle loose she tightened her grip on his arms, digging her taloned fingers into the metal. He actually flinched. "You don't realize the serious mistake you made, crossing me!"

He struggled further but wasn't accomplishing much. He couldn't exactly kick her to get her off because he didn't have any legs. She smirked, figuring this out when he did. "Maybe your creator should have thought of giving you feet before he put you online."

He hissed at her. "I don't need feet to get away from you."

Something strange happened then. Translucent dragon wings shot out of his back. She was so surprised by this that she loosened her grip slightly. The moment she did, he shot into the air, breaking her hold on him. He hovered above her, just out of reach. She stared up at him, her optics widening. She hadn't expected him to do that. Where did he hide those wings anyway?

He took advantage of her surprise and dived at her, his hands slamming into her shoulders, knocking her back. She was knocked off her feet and sent flying into the wall of one of the buildings. She felt an electrical charge shoot through her body and she screamed in pain, flailing her arms around to get rid of the source.

Her hand crashed into a smooth metal surface. It felt like a face.. Her taloned fingers punctured it. She heard a grunt then that strange bird of prey scream. Her optics flicked on just as the other energy vampire pushed away from her, holding the damage to his face, which seemed to be leaking blue fluid. He stared through his hand at her. The look was nerve wracking.

For a moment she thought he was going to go after her again but then he surprised her by reactivating those weird wings and shooting into the air, leaving her where she was. He was running away!

"Oh no you _don't_!"

Shadowstar got up to chase after him but a sharp pain in her wing stopped her. She glanced back, accessing the damage. Her right wing had a long crack in it. Like most seekers, her wings were the most sensitive part of her design. One little crack could leave her grounded.

_Sparks! _she growled, glaring at the damage. If it weren't for that she'd be grinding that legless robots triangular face into the pavement right now. She looked back up at the sky. The other vampire was already a good distance away and getting smaller with each passing second. "This isn't over!" she shouted at it. "Next time I run into you you're going to wish you'd killed me!"

The other vampire either didn't hear her or didn't feel she was worth replying to. He continued on his course, putting more and more distance between them.

She sighed and turned away from him. "Sparks, now I'll have to find another robot to feed on."

She headed down the alley, her audio receptors already picking up the metallic sound of an approaching machine. _Right on time. _

* * *

Sari waited impatiently while Prowl concentrated his Processor Over Matter on the cables holding them prisoner. After a few minutes she couldn't take it anymore. "Hurry up!" she shouted, startling him out of his trance.

Prowl turned his head to look at her. "I would be going a lot faster if a certain little girl wasn't breaking my concentration," he told her, his voice full of annoyance. "Now could you please not say anything?"

"Okay, fine," she said.

He looked away. "In the meantime why don't you try it out for yourself?"

"No thanks," she said. "That mind of matter stuff sounds way too corny."

Prowl chose not to respond to that. Instead he turned his focus on the cables, allowing himself to clear his mind of everything but the things holding him immobile. He began to hum again, only louder. The sound was starting to annoy Sari but she chose not to say anything because she did not want to break his concentration.

Soon the cables began to move. As Sari watched, wide eyed, the bindings slowly began to unravel. Within minutes both were free. They landed on the floor without making any noise. "So what now?" Sari asked, wiping herself off.

Prowl lifted his arm. "Now," he said, the points of one of his shurikens sticking out between his fingers. "We get answers."

* * *

Something about the way their captives had been acting bothered Mira. They had not exactly said or did anything that would make them criminal material.. well except bringing an energy vampire to Trade World. But they had also mentioned that they had been looking for that being and wanted to stop it. That was a bit confusing. Why would they admit to bringing it there then say they wanted to get rid of it? Unless....

After giving it some thought she realized that maybe she and her comrades had over reacted a little. She also remembered that when they had mentioned both Zurg and Nos-4-A2 to the two beings neither had looked at all like they knew what the Space Rangers had been talking about. Almost like... no.. it couldn't be.

"Hey, Buzz," she said, looking up at the human who was sitting at the main control board. They were heading to Star Command because Lightyear had said that Commander Nebula might have some questions of his own for their captives. "Do you think we might have jumped to conclusions back there?"

"No," he replied, not giving it a second thought. "You heard what the robot said. They are responsible for Nos-4-A2 being on the Trade World. That means we didn't make a mistake."

"But still..." she looked back toward the closed door. "I don't think that they-"

"Of course they do," XR cut her off. "Like Buzz said; they admitted it."

"I know," she replied. "But I'm not sure if what _they_ meant was what _we_ meant."

"Huh?" the robot stared at her. "That doesn't even make any sense."

"Well neither does complete strangers bringing Nos-4-A2 to Trade World and then looking for him," she pointed out.

"Yeah," Booster spoke up. "The robot with the sunglasses did say he was there to fight him."

"So if they were working for Zurg why would they want to fight him?" she agreed.

"Because they were trying to trick us, duh," the robot responded. "That whole "we wanna fight the energy vampire" thing was probably an act. They wanted us to think that they were there to help when for real they are working for Zurg and were going to take us out. Why else would they have come up to Booster and started asking about it?"

"Because they didn't know where he was?" she replied. "I don't know about you guys but those two looked pretty confused when we started talking about Zurg and Nos-4-A2."

"Yeah," Booster agreed. "When I mentioned Zurg earlier they acted like they had never even heard of him."

"Of course they didn't! They were acting."

"XR is right," Buzz agreed, not about to change his mind. "Why else would they pretend to not know who they were if they weren't lying?"

"Because they- oh never mind! We're just going in circles here." she folded her arms and turned away. "Just forget it."

Buzz let the matter drop without making a comment. But now a nagging thought was bothering him. What if they got out? "XR," he said, not looking up from the controls. "Why don't you go back and check on the prisoners?"

"Right away Buzz." he said, saluting.

The robot wheeled out of the room and headed down the hall between the control room and the room where their prisoners were being kept. While he went he figured it couldn't hurt to interrogate them further.

_Even if they insist that they have no idea what we're talking about I know they're lying. They already admitted it. _

He arrived at the door and reached up to punch in the code. As it turned out he didn't need to. At that very moment the door burst open, knocking him off his feet. He crashed into the wall and hit the floor, hard.

"Ow!" he moaned, getting up.

"Sari, you didn't have to blow the door off its hinges."

"Hey, don't yell at me I couldn't wait for one of those jerks to come here and open it for us."

XR sat up and found himself staring at their prisoners. At the moment they didn't seem to notice him. The girl was looking at the male robot who didn't look happy. "The prisoners escaped!" he exclaimed before he could stop himself.

The robot and his human partner looked at him. "Maybe we won't have to question them all," the robot said, stepping toward XR.

"Yipe!" XR jumped quickly to his feet and shot down the hall. "BUZZ!" he yelled, bursting into the control room.

Lightyear looked back at him. "What now?"

The robot waved his arms up and down. "The prisoners have escaped!" he shouted, almost in panic mode.

"What?!"

"The prisoners!" XR repeated, pointing back the way he came. "They broke out of the room and they're coming toward us!"

"Not if I can help it." Buzz got to his feet and stepped toward the door. He looked at Booster and Mira. "Come on. Let's take care of this before they escape."

* * *

"Hey, the can is getting away!" Sari yelled, moving to apprehend him.

Prowl had to grab the back of the girl's dress to keep her from charging after the little box robot. "You're going to make things more difficult if you keep that up," he told her, pulling her back until she was standing next to him.

"Hey, they started it," she snapped. "We only wanted to know if they saw that fembot freak and look what they did! They wrapped us up in cables and accused us of working for this Ziggy person."

"I think they called it Zurg," Prowl pointed out.

"Whatever." she said, making a face. "Let's just do this. I want to get this whole misunderstanding resolved as soon as possible before they do something else to us. Like force us to eat Lima beans and watch _Super Mario Brothers _the movie.."

Prowl had to agree, even if he didn't know what Lima beans or Mario brothers were. The last thing they needed was to be put in jail for something they didn't do, not when Shadowstar was out there feeding on helpless machines. "Let's go."

Just then the door to the control room burst open and their captors entered the hall. The three larger beings aimed their lasers at them.

"Freeze, escapies!" the one named Buzz ordered.

"I got a better idea," Sari said, charging up an orb. "How about _you _duck!"

"Look out!" the blue woman shouted, diving to the floor.

Buzz rolled to avoid the orb then fired his laser at them. The Autobots jumped in different directions to avoid being hit. Prowl rushed forward, throwing his shurikens. One of them hit Booster right in the chest. It knocked him off his feet.

"Okay, you asked for it, buster!" he raised his arm and fired his laser at Prowl.

The cyber ninja took it in the chest, being knocked back. He hit the floor with a crash.

"Good work, Booster," Buzz said before running toward the cyber ninja.

Prowl recovered just as Buzz lunged at him. He reacted quickly, grabbing the human's arms and kicking him in the stomach. He sent the space ranger flying. He crashed into the floor.

"Buzz!" Mira shouted, rushing forward.

"I'm okay," the human replied sitting up. Mira ran past him, heading straight for Prowl.

The cyber ninja braced his body, ready to defend himself. He didn't really want to hit a female, especially an organic one, but he didn't have a choice. As it turned out she surprised him. Before he could hit her she.. went right through him like he wasn't even there! He stared at the spot where she had been, confused. The blue female, who had ghosted through him and came out behind him, took advantage of this and kicked the cyber ninja in the back. He went flying, slamming into Buzz who had just gotten back up.

"Ugh! Get off me!" the human yelled, struggling to push the heavy Autobot off.

Meanwhile Sari was dealing with XR who seemed to have an unending arsenal of guns. Every time she'd knock one out of his hands with an energy orb he'd pull out a new one. Finally she just gave up on that and threw the orb at his face. He screamed and ducked, dropping his weapons which crashed to the floor. The orb flew over his head and slammed into Booster who had come to help. The big red alien crashed into the wall. "Ow!" he moaned, sitting up and rubbing his head. "That hurt."

"There's plenty more where that came from," Sari said, charging up another one. "Take this!"

Booster and XR scrambled to get out of the way blue projectile. Sari came after them, shooting more. The robot tripped over his own gun and Sari got to him before he could right himself. Suddenly she had a hammer in her hands that she seemed to have pulled out of nowhere. "Time to open me a can of dork!" she said.

"Now wait a minute!" he shouted, putting up his hands as to protect himself. "You don't really want to open me up. I'm very valuable. I can give you anything you want! How about a massage?"

"Shut up!" she shouted. "just hold still! This won't hurt for long!"

But she never got to swing because the red alien came up behind her and scooped her up in a bear hug."I'm sorry but I can't let you do that," he said.

"Let me go!" she shouted, struggling to get free.

"Good work, Booster!" XR exclaimed, getting up.

Meanwhile Prowl was having his own trouble with Buzz and the blue alien woman. When he had gotten off the human Buzz kicked him in the stomach which he had not been expecting. The man kept up the assault and Prowl was forced to defend himself.

While he fought against Buzz the woman would disappear than reappear. He didn't know where she would pop up next. He was so busy trying to avoid being hit by the human that he could do nothing to stop her but it didn't take too long for him to get wise of what she was doing. After a few more incidents he jumped into the air when he sensed her using her ability. Instead of her hitting him she punched Buzz right in the face.

He made a really goofy face and fell over.

"Oh, Buzz!" she exclaimed. "I'm so sorry! I didn't think he would do that!"

Prowl landed behind her and grabbed her by the back of her suit. "I didn't want to," he said. 'But you and your comrades aren't giving me much of a choice."

"Hey, let her go!" Buzz shouted, getting to his feet.

"All right." Prowl threw her into the other space ranger.

Both crashed to the floor. Prowl heard a yell and turned his head. He saw the big red alien holding Sari in his arms while she struggled to free herself. The little robot was cheering his comrade on. "Yeah, hold her Booster!"

She growled at the little robot and kicked him in the face, knocking his head off. "Hold that, googlehead!"

Booster tightened his grip. "Now don't do that!"

"You're crushing me!"

"Sari!"

The cyber ninja started to run over to help her but was hit in the back by a laser. He crashed to the floor, his back screaming in agony. _What? That was stronger than I thought. _he grunted and he tried to get up. "More painful too. Why can't I move?"

"Because I set it for stun."

He looked up to find Buzz and the female standing over him with their laser aimed at him.

"One move and I'll take you out permanently," Buzz said.

Prowl didn't move, because he couldn't. Instead he turned his attention back to Sari. She was still being held by the one named Booster who seemed to be getting annoyed because she kept kicking him in the stomach. It didn't look like she'd be getting away any time soon.

_Sparks. _

* * *

Nos-4-A2 did not bother going back for round two with the fembot that claimed she was a vampire. Instead he flew off until he put a pretty good amount of distance between himself and her. Then he found a nice place to hang and suspended himself upside down above the busy city. There he worked on repairing the the small amount of damage she'd managed to give him. It would not take long.

_It seems I have competition now, _he thought, remembering the angry fembot as he proceeded to repair the puncture wounds in his face. She claimed to be a vampire herself and he couldn't say she was lying. She'd acted like one, even had the fangs, though hers looked weird.

But there was something else about her that bothered him. Her energy signature. He had never picked up one like that before. It seemed... different. Like it didn't belong there. Other worldly....

_Nonsense. It just seems that way because you have never met another one like youself before._

Now that thought really bothered him. If there was another energy vampire that meant he was not the only one who would lay a claim to the machines in the city . It was likely that he would run into her again next time he needed to feed. If he learned anything from their previous encounter that meant he'd have to fight for it again. He looked at the puncture wounds in his arm and felt the ones in his face as he carefully filled them in with liquid metal. That bimbo had claws.

She could kill him with those things.

_On no. That's not going to happen. _he activated his wings and detached himself from the flagpole. _I think I'll take care of that little problem before it gets worse._

_A/N_

_hehehe yeah.._


	4. Chapter 4

CHAP 4

"Looks like you just showed your true colors." Buzz said as Mira slapped a pair of cuffs onto Prowl's wrists. The cyber ninja could not stop them because his body was still paralyzed, though the effects were starting to wear off. "By breaking out of your holding cell you just proved that you are indeed an enemy."

"We broke out of there because we wanted to get answers!" Sari protested, trying to break free from Booster who was gripping her arms. He held on tight as XR attempted to slap on the cuffs. "If you guys had just helped us instead of treating us like criminals this never would have happened!" she glared back at XR. "Get away from me, shrimp!" She spun around, surprising Booster by how strong she was and aimed a kick at the little robot.

XR moved back and avoided the blow. "Oh no, you're not going to knock my head off again!" he grabbed her foot when she attempted to hit him with it again. "Ha ha! Now let's see you- hey I can see up her-"

"XR!" Buzz shouted, cutting him off. "Just put the cuffs on!"

"Oh fine," the robot said, letting go of Sari's foot. "You always have to spoil my fun." he slapped the cuffs on then rolled away. Booster held onto the girl's arms to keep her from bolting, not that she would be able to get very far since they were out in the middle of space and she didn't know where anything was. "When I get out of this I'm going make you all sorry," she snapped, glaring at XR. "Starting with Robo McPervert there."

"Now now just calm down," Buzz said to her. "You won't be going anywhere any time soon."

"Oh yeah?" she demanded, glaring at the space ranger. "You'd be surprised at what I can get out of, you-"

"Sari," Prowl cut her off. She looked at him and he shook his head, indicating baiting the human was a bad idea. Seeing the wisdom in that, she never finished her sentence but did shoot them all the death glare just to show them that she wasn't happy about any of this.

Buzz took his attention off Sari to speak with Prowl. It was obvious the robot was the leader, not the girl."I don't know how you freed yourselves from those cables but I can assure you that you will not break free from these." he pointed at the cuffs "They are specially made for robots. If you try to get loose they will send a surge through your body that will knock you offline." Buzz then looked over at Sari. "As for you, I do not know exactly what you are but as a precaution we gave you the same restraints."

She stuck her tongue out at him. He made a face then looked back at Prowl. The cyber ninja attempted to reason with him. "Listen, this has all been a misunderstanding," he began.

"Misunderstanding?" Buzz demanded. "I'm not so sure of that. Maybe I would have believed you if you hadn't broken out and attacked us."

"We _didn't_ attack you," Prowl started. "If we did it was in self defense."

"Yeah, you pointed a laser at our heads!" Sari shouted, unable to stay silent for very long. "You guys are so _lame_. All we wanted was help finding a crazy vampire and you arrest us like _we're_ the bad guys!"

Buzz rounded on her. "You two are responsible for letting a highly dangerous criminal loose on an unsuspecting planet, young lady!" he told her, pointing at her face. "I don't call that innocent."

"I think we might be thinking of two different things," Prowl answered, once again gaining Buzz's attention. "You see-"

"Save it for the Commander," Buzz cut him off. "We'll get the whole story when we return to Star Command and believe me, you will tell us everything." he looked at Mira and Booster. "Take them back to the holding cell and make sure they can't get out this time."

* * *

A small pile of empty robots lay at Shadowstar's feet by the time she finished feeding. She dropped the last one onto the heap then wiped her mouth, making a disgusted face. _Stale. Why in the All Spark are all inferior machines always stale? _she kicked the mound, making it fall over then glanced back at her wing. It seemed to have repaired itself. _Good. Now I can look for that stupid bat winged freak. _She activated the thrusters in her feet and shot into the air, transforming into vehicle mode and shooting off into the busy airspace. _He's around here somewhere. There are so many robots on this planet that it's not likely that he will leave it. _

But how was she going to find the other vampire? She didn't exactly know where it hung out or even what kind of energy signature it had. She'd been so bent on kicking his pointy metal behind that she hadn't bothered scanning him.

_Stupid! Stupid stupid! _

She checked out a few more blocks then decided to rest for a moment and landed on the roof of one of the casinos, transforming into robot mode as she did so. She then perched on the edge, looking over the city. _Where am I? _she thought to herself. _What is this place and how did I get here? _She thought back to her fight with Prowl and the human girl.. er cyborg girl. She remembered tackling Prowl who had been holding onto the girl to protect her. All three had fallen into the space bridge transporter. After that she'd blacked out and rebooted here. _Of course! The space bridge! It must have sent me here!_ She looked around the city. _and if I am here... maybe Prowl is too. _

At the very thought of Prowl being there sent a jolt went through her frame. "Maybe this won't be so bad after all," she said out loud. "Not if my favorite meal is here too." she activated her thrusters and shot into the air. "If he is here I wonder where he's hiding right now?"

* * *

Finding the fembot energy vampire proved to be a problem. Trade World was a big place and by now she could be anywhere but Nos-4-A2 wasn't one to give up easily. He was determined to find her and find her he would. He began at the very place where he had last seen her. The alley behind the _Exotic Treasures _casino.

It wasn't hard to find because the little robot he'd drained was still where he'd left it, plus the neon sign helped too. The local peace officers hadn't found it yet. He stared at the robot for a moment, debating whether he should bring it back to life or not. Maybe it would be able to tell him something. But doing so would be wasting energy. So he did the next best thing.

He opened up it's chest and poked around inside until he came upon the memory drive. _Perfect._

A short time later he was flying away with more questions than answers. From what the little robots memory card told him the fembot had just fallen out of the sky. No ships and no comrades to bring it there. Just poof! Right out of nowhere. While all that was terribly fascinating it did not given him even the slightest clue on where she could have gone.

_Maybe I should try something else. _he paused and scanned the city for a moment, attempting to pick up that alien energy signature that made her unique from the rest of the mechanical population.

For a moment there was nothing and then... a faint trail. It led to the more population part of the city.

Nos-4-A2 smiled. _Lovely._

* * *

Sari slammed her body against the door of the ship's holding cell. It held and all she accomplished was bruising her shoulder. "Ow."

"Forget it Sari," Prowl said from across the room. He was sitting cross legged on the floor. "They fixed the door and sealed it. You won't be able to break it open by slamming yourself into it."

"Oh" she groaned, getting to her feet. "This whole thing is just stupid! We didn't even do anything and they're treating us like we just set Megatron loose on their universe!"

"I am sure they have their reasons," he replied.

"Yeah, they believe we sent this Nossy four two thing loose," she replied, glaring at the door. "I don't even know what a Nix four oh whatever it's name is is!"

"I believe they said he was an energy vampire," Prowl told her. "and I do believe it was pronounced Nos-4-A2. Now why don't you just leave that door alone and sit down by me?"

She complied but didn't look happy. "Yeah well whatever," she said, turning toward him. "Well if old Dinohead back there hadn't lied about us this never would have happened."

"I don't think he lied," Prowl said, wondering why he was defending the red alien. "I think he just misunderstood what we said." He looked over at her as she sat down beside him. "It's obvious they believe we brought back to life this other energy vampire they mentioned."

"What I would like to know is who in their right mind would create an energy vampire in the first place?" she demanded. "They're nut jobs! Fembot freak is a prime example of how loopy those things are. If there are two-"

"I don't know," the cyber ninja answered before she could continue ranting. "But maybe this Commander Nebula will be able to tell us something."

"Or throw us in the can before we can clear our names," she added. "With how our luck's been lately this Nebula guy is probably one of those people who passes judgment first and asks questions later." she folded her legs under her and glared at nothing. "Yeah that's probably what he'll be like and he probably hates robots too."

"We won't know that until we get there."

The girl sighed and settled back for the long trip to this Star Command place. "I hope whoever that guy is he's not as stupid as these losers."

Prowl didn't comment. He was hoping the same thing but wasn't about to say it. It would sound too unlike him.

* * *

Nothing. Nada. Zip. Kaput.

Shadowstar thought she'd been following the energy signature for Prowl when it suddenly vanished as if it had never been there. "Sparks!" she cursed, hovering over a star ship landing pad. "Where did it go?" she looked around herself, trying to pick up the signal again. Nothing. It was gone. "Oh Pitfall!"

She descended to the landing pad and studied it for a moment. The faint trace of his energy signature ended a few feet away. It almost seemed like he'd walked there then vanish. _No.. Not vanished. He must have taken a ship._

"But how could he?" she asked herself out loud, putting her hands on her hips. "He doesn't even know anybody in this crazy universe."

"Looking for something, wench?"

Shadowstar startled by the voice, jerked around. She spotted the vampire thing from earlier hovering over her head. Right now those weird wings weren't activated and his arms were hidden by the folds of his cape, though one hand was peeking out. He looked much smaller when he was like that. Maybe even... weak. But she knew he wasn't weak. "Oh, it's you," she said, glaring up at the energy thief. "Here for round two, you legless wanna be?"

"Now now, let's not resort to childish name calling, shall we?" he said, looking at her condescendingly. "It makes one sound so immature."

"_You're_ the one who is immature," she snapped. "Stealing something that does not belong to you."

"I am afraid you are mistaken, my dear," he replied. He spread his arms out wide. "Every machine here belongs to me."

She smirked. "Not any more," she responded. "I need to recharge as well. So I guess you'll have to learn to share."

"I never share," he stated. Then activated his wings and dived down at her.

* * *

_Oh sure. Find the vampire and immobilize the vampire. It should not be that hard to do. He spends most of his time in Trade World after he was so foolishly reactivated by that silly little Gravitina. Ha! Easy to find my butt! _Warp Darkmatter glared down at the metropolis of Trade World. Evil Emperor Zurg had sent him to the planet to find and capture that traitor energy vampire Nos-4-A2. He had said it would be easy.

Easy was the wrong word for it.

Impossible fit better.

He didn't even get why the cyborg wanted Nos-4-A2 to begin with. Oh sure the energy vampire had over thrown him but he'd also been taken down by Buzz Lightyear. Zurg didn't even really know who had put the machine back together but the security camera's had picked up that big headed Gravitina outside the room where his parts had been stored. Why the gravity manipulator would want to bring Nos-4-A2 back was beyond him and there wasn't any proof that she had, aside from those security tapes. When asked about it she vehemently denied it, saying she would rather fall into the sun than revive such an ugly freak.

But had she protested too loudly?

Warp could worry about that later.

Right now he had a vampire to find. He looked down at the city again. "Nope, this will not be easy. Not in the slightest." He sighed and checked his blaster. Fully charged. "Might as well get this over with."

He jumped off the roof.

* * *

_"Transformers more than meets the eyes. Autobots rage their battle to destroy the evil forces of the Decepticons," _Sari sang softly as she waited. She saw Prowl giving her a funny look. "What?"

"Where did you hear that song?" he asked.

"Uh...," she thought for a moment. "I think some of the kids in town were singing it."

"Hmm." the look on his face told her he didn't like it. Did the music offend him? "Could you please sing something else?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Just something else."

She thought for a moment then sang. "_Strange things are happening to me. Strange things. Strange things are happening to me. Ain't no doubt about i-"_

The door opened just then. Sari instantly stopped singing and fixed a glare on the person or persons standing in the doorway.

The ones named Booster and XR stepped into the room. "What do you want?" she demanded, giving them her most deadly look. She focused it more on XR than Booster. "Here to try sneaking a peak at my underpants again, you sick freak?"

Booster looked down at XR. "See! I told you coming with me was a bad idea," he said to the robot.

"Hey, Buzz asked us both to come and get them and I intend to do my job," XR retorted, putting his hands on the sides of his body because he didn't have any hips.

"Okay but I don't think you should-"

"Oh blah blah blah!" XR cut him off, waving his hands and rolling over to the Autobots. "You guys are no fun. I never get to do what-" he didn't get to finish his sentence because Sari kicked him in the face, knocking off his head which landed at Boosters feet. "Now that's just playing dirty!"

"Speak for yourself," Sari growled. "You keep your sticking fingers away from me, you lecherous googleface!"

"Sari, enough," Prowl ordered, shooting her a hard Look. "You're only making things worse."

_"I'm _making things worse!?" she shouted. "That Buzz guy sent Panting Peeping Louie there to come get us and you're saying _I'm_ making it worse?!"

"Just ignore him," the cyber ninja suggested. "It will make things easier."

"Okay fine," she said. She looked at Booster who was busy putting XR's head back on his body. "You, Big Red!"

He put his hands on his chest. "Me?"

"Yes you," she said. "If you're coming to take us out of here I want you to be the one who does it. I don't trust Mr Googlehead over there."

"Okay.." Booster crossed the room and helped her up. He looked at XR. "I guess you get the robot."

"Oh sure," XR grumbled, wheeling over to help Prowl up. "Leave me with the poker faced bot here. Why do you always get the girls?"

"Maybe because he's not a pig," Sari replied.

Booster didn't comment, he just led Sari out of the room.

"All right, Shades," XR said, grabbing Prowl's arm. He extended his legs and helped him up. "Let's go. Dad wishes to speak with you."

_Dad?_

* * *

Shadowstar activated her thrusters and shot into the air. "Okay, if that's the way you want to play!" she yelled.

They clashed about halfway. She raised her arms and slammed them into his shoulders while he grabbed her by the neck. She growled at him and kicked at his chestplate, knocking his grip loose and sending him flying back.

He didn't stay back for long. Instead he let out a roar and dived down at her. She dodged out of the way and kicked him in the back. He in turn twisted around and slashed at her. His clawed fingers caught her legs and he pulled, creating long, deep scratches in them.

She screamed in pain and shot away from him, the scratches bleeding out purplish colored mech fluid. She hovered for a moment, staring at the damage then growled and dived at him. "You're going to regret that!"

* * *

Dad wound up being Commander Nebula and from as far as Prowl could tell the man didn't look the least bit like a machine, well except for the peg leg. He looked like any other human, complete with tanned skin and facial hair. The man reminded him of Captain Fanzone. "That's your dad?" Prowl asked, staring down at XR.

Commander Nebula heard him. "I'm _not_ his father," he snapped.

"You're not?" Now Prowl was real confused. "But he-"

"Commander," Buzz said, cutting Prowl off. "These are the ones who let Nos-4-A2 loose in Trade World."

"Oh really?" the Commander walked over to them. He stood before them, his hands on his hips. "You do know aiding a fugitive is a federal offense, don't you?"

Prowl tried to explain. "But we didn't-"

"I don't want to hear any excuses!" Nebula cut him off. "Nos-4-A2 is a danger to machines everywhere." he poked Prowl in the chest. "You being a machine yourself should have known that."

"With all due respect if you would just let me explain-" Prowl started.

But Nebula wasn't listening. He'd noticed the Autobot symbol on Prowl's chest. He had never seen a symbol like that before. "And what in the name of Andromeda is _that_?!" he demanded, pointing at it.

Prowl looked down at his insignia. Instantly he felt something in his processor beginning to fry. "That," he began. "Is kind of hard to explain."

"Well you'd better try," Nebula snapped, folding his arms. "Is that the new logo Zurg is going by now, weird mechanical faces?"

"No!" Sari spoke up. "That's the Autobot symbol."

Everyone stared at Sari then down at the symbol. "What in blue blazes is an Autobot?!"

Yep, this was going to be complicated.

_A/N_

_Yeah I got it done in time, even with episodes help.  
_


	5. Chapter 5

CHAP 5

Sari looked at Prowl. "Go ahead," she said, looking somewhat desperate. "Tell them."

The cyber ninja didn't reply. He seemed to be having a hard time trying to come up with the simplest way to explain what an Autobot was. _Come on, Prowl! _she thought. _If you don't tell them they will throw us in the slammer and never let us out until I'm an old woman and you're a rusted heap!_

The Commander and Buzz's team were all looking at him, expectant. They were waiting for an explanation as well.

"Well uh..," he began, trying to think of the right words to say. "It's a fraction."

"A fraction of what?" Nebula asked.

"Well of robots," Prowl answered.

The man made a face. "A fraction of _robots_?" he asked. "What kind of answer is that?"

Prowl sighed. "It's kind of complicated," he began.

"Well try," the man replied, folding his arms. "and it better be good or I will throw both you and your partner in the can right now."

The cyber ninja sighed again. This could take awhile. "All right," he began. "It's like this..."

* * *

So the fembot vampire wasn't super powerful after all. She could damage just as easily as he could. He smiled as he flew behind her. This would be easier than he thought. _Lovely. _

Shadowstar turned on him, something long and dangling in her hands. A chain. Now where did she get that thing?

While he took a moment to figure that out she threw the chain at him, the end wrapping around him five times, pinning his arms to his sides. "Ha! Let's see you get out of that, you freak!' she taunted.

He glared at her. She was calling him a freak!? She was just as much of a reject as he was! Even more so! "Release me at once!"

"Or you'll do what?" she asked, smirking. "You can't do anything."

His expression switched to match her own. "Really?"

Just then a electric charge shot down through the chain. When it reached Shadowstar it coursed into her, electrocuting her circuits. She screamed in pain and let the chain go. The charge stopped but her thrusters conked out and she fell to the landing pad. Meanwhile Nos-4-A2 easily broke free from the chain. It fell to the landing pad in pieces. He laughed as he did so then shot down after her.

The fembot saw him coming but she couldn't do anything about it or fly out of the way. The charge had shorted out her thrusters. So she fell without stopping, helped along when he slammed his hands into her shoulders then pulled away, until she crashed hard into the landing pad. The impact was so great that she cracked the pavement before bouncing once and landing on her back.

Groaning, she put her hands under her and pushed herself up. Behind her she could hear her rival laughing. She turned her head and glared at him. "That was a dumb move."

She got up slowly, keeping her eyes on the other vampire. He seemed to be waiting for her to stand. This made her think he was dumber than he looked. Surely he knew better than to wait for his adversary to get back to their feet before before he made his next move.

But as it turned out she was the one who was dooped. Before she was even standing upright he flew down at her. He reached out a hand and grabbed her arm, yanking hard on it as he swooped by. She was knocked off balance and sent crashing to the ground. She landed on her back and saw him bank and fly into a neon sigh. Before she could figure out what he was doing or move, he crashed into it, absorbing energy then turned back to her and fired plasma out of his hands.

She moved quickly, twisting on her side to avoid being hit. The charge hit the ground where she'd been sprawled only seconds before. He turned and fired at her again. She scrambled to her feet and shot into the air. The thrusters in her feet finally activating. She faced him, open air the one thing between them.

"Ready to give up?" he asked.

"I'll never give up to such an inferior machine such as you," she snapped.

He looked at her with fake pity. "That's a shame," he said before flying at her like a large bird of prey.

* * *

"So anyway that's about it," Prowl said, finishing up his explanation about his Autobot insignia.

The Space Rangers and Commander Nebula had listened to the entire story with strange expressions on their faces. As he talked, he realized that they didn't really believe what he was saying but he didn't care. He knew he wasn't lying. When he was finished with his explanation about Autobots, Commander Nebula spoke up first. "Do you really expected me to believe that you came from a planet full of machines that are in some kind of war because the fractions can't get along?!"

"Well it's not like that exactly," Prowl told him, trying to correct him. "But-"

"And do you also expect me to believe that there even is such a planet that is full of machines?!" he demanded, getting in Prowl's face. The cyber ninja noticed he had gold fillings. "What kind of an idiot do you take me for?!"

"A big one," Sari muttered.

He rounded on the girl. "What did you say?!"

She glared at him and opened her mouth to say something but was cut off when Prowl spoke. "It's the truth," he told him. "Why would I lie about something like that?"

Nebula turned back to the ninja and poked him in the chest. "Because Zurg programmed it into your hardware," he told him. "He made this whole thing up to make us believe you aren't from here and thinks this will make us trust you and when we're least expecting it you'll turn on us. I don't think so!'

"I don't even know who this Zurg person is!" Prowl insisted.

"Oh sure you don't," the commander said, folding his arms. "and I'm sure you don't know who Nos-4-A2 is either."

"To be completely honest I don't," the cyber ninja told him. "Though I was led to believe that he is some kind of machine that devours energy."

"Nos-4-A2 is the vampire you and your partner there let loose on Trade World," the Commander replied. "Why don't you tell us why you did that?"

Prowl stared at him for a moment then replied. "The vampire I accidentally brought to that planet was a _female_."

Now all of them stared at him. Mira nudged Buzz. "I told you," she said, looking at him pointedly.

Lightyear ignored her comment. "What do you mean the energy vampire was female?" he demanded, stepping toward the Autobot. "Did Zurg build another one?"

"No," the cyber ninja replied. "The energy vampire I am talking about came from my dimension."

Commander Nebula looked at him like he was crazy. "Your dimension?" he asked.

"Yes," Prowl told him. "I am not from this universe."

"Now if that isn't the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard I don't know what is!"

"He's not lying!" Sari shouted, attempting to break free from Booster's grip on her arms. If they weren't going to listen to Prowl she'd make them listen to her. "We fell through a space bridge and wound up here! This whole thing is a big misunderstanding!"

The man turned back to her. "Oh really?" he said. "Then why don't you explain it to us?"

Prowl felt now would be a good time to be totally honest and explain the whole thing. He looked around them, noticing alien people walking by but sneaking interested looks at the two prisoners. He had forgotten they were standing in the middle of the hallway. "Can we discuss this somewhere else?" he asked.

The Commander looked back at him. "No," he said. "This place is just as good as any. Anything you have to say is important enough for all my rangers to hear."  
Prowl sighed. Yep, this man definitely didn't like robots that much. "Fine." he had no other choice. "Let me begin by saying that the reason you have never heard of Cybertron is because it does not exist in this universe. It exists in the dimension Sari and I came from." he looked at them all. They seemed to be listening. "Before I met this red alien named Booster, Sari and I were on the roof of her father's workplace. I wanted her to type in the co-ordinance to my Master's old dojo."

"So _that's_ why you wanted to use the bridge," she said under her breath.

Prowl continued. "When she started up the bridge the vampire we are looking for came through the portal and attacked us."

"It could have been Nos-4-A2," Buzz replied. "He could have come through the portal into your world and you sent him back!"

"No," Prowl told him, giving him a correcting look. "It wasn't. From what I can guess, while we were fighting, the location was changed. When we fell through the portal we wound up here."

"How do you know this energy vampire you're after came out here?"

"Because she fell in with us."

"Why do you keep calling it a she?"

"Because it _is_ a she," Prowl told them. "Her name is Shadowstar. She is from Cybertron like I am."

"Wait, you're telling me that your universe also has an energy vampire?" Commander Nebula demanded.

Prowl nodded.

"And she came to our universe with you?!"

The cyber ninja could only guess what the man was thinking by then. He seemed to be listening but he wasn't sure if he actually believed him. "Yes," he replied, nodding. "That is what I am saying. That's why I said this was a misunderstanding." he looked at Buzz and his comrades. "Your people obviously thought I was talking about this vampire named Nos-4-A2. From what I gathered, he is a criminal that has been draining machines."

"You got that right." the Commander agreed.

"So," Sari said, getting into the discussion. "Now that we told you what happened, can you let us go now?"

"Now wait a second there, young lady," he said, putting up his hand like a traffic cop. "I never said I believed you. I just wanted to hear what you would come up with."

"Oh come on!" Sari shouted, annoyed. "What more do you need? A big brass band?"

"What I need is proof," he told her. "and right now I don't have any proof."

"You have our word," Prowl told him.

"Which I trust about as much as I trust any machine," he told him. "as far as I can see, neither of you has on iota of physical evidence that what you are saying is true. Until I see some I can't let you go."

Sari gaped at him, her mouth hanging open. She tried to figure out a way to prove that what they were telling was the truth but nothing came to her. She looked at Prowl. His face was a blank and she knew he couldn't think of anything either.

Commander Nebula didn't looked surprised. "I didn't think so."

"So uh sir," Buzz said, stepping forward. "What should I do with them for now?"

"Put them in a holding cell," Commander Nebula told him. "Then we'll-"

"Wait!" Mira shouted, startling everyone.

The everyone looked at her. "Darn it, Private!" the Commander shouted. "You didn't need to shout."

"Sorry sir," she said, looking nervous. "But I think I know of a way to prove that what they are saying is the truth."

"How?"

She raised her hand, wiggling her fingers. "How about some Tangean mind probing?" she asked.

"Good idea!" he shouted, looking pleased. "Now why didn't I think of that?" he stepped aside. "Go right ahead!"

Mira walked over to the prisoners. She looked back and forth between the two of them. Prowl stared at her, wondering what she was going to do. He got his answer a minute later when she turned to Sari and ran her hand right through the girl's face.

"Whoa!" Sari exclaimed, startled. She looked at the woman's arm, her eyes crossing. "Is this sanitary?"

After a moment Commander Nebula asked. "Well?"

"Well there is some weird stuff in here," Mira replied, her hand still in Sari's brain. "I can see some weird- oh okay that was a little too much there." she moved her hand again. "Ah hah! I got it!"

"What?" everyone else asked.

"Just a minute." she left her hand in for a few seconds longer than pulled it out. Sari looked like she was going to faint.. or throw up.. or both as the woman turned away from her. Mira looked at Buzz and the Commander. The look on her face looked somewhat scared or confused.

"What?" Nebula asked.

She looked at Sari, who was being held up by Booster, then at Prowl. "They're telling the truth."

Everyone's eyes grew twice as large. "What?!"

* * *

Warp Darkmatter paused to study his surroundings. He was pretty far into the city by then but he hadn't found the energy vampire yet. He lifted a small, flat pad to his eyes and studied it. Something showed up on the screen. A faint energy spike. Until then he hadn't gotten anything.

He smiled. _There you are. _

Warp then lowered the pad, raised his gun, and took off toward it.

* * *

Shadowstar slammed into the landing pad with the other vampire on top of her. While her face was still planted in the concrete he dug his fingers painfully into her shoulders. She screamed in pain and flipped herself over. She growled into his face, her optics flashing green then back to red. "Let go of me!" she shouted in his face.

"I'd rather not," he said, pushing down on her shoulder to keep her from getting up. He was surprisingly strong. "You see I have a bit of a problem and I'm staring at it. This cities machines are mine. I can't have another vampire feeding on energy that rightfully belongs to me."

She growled at him. "Maybe you should learn to be more generous!" then she grabbed his arms and dug her talons into them.

He felt her fingers dig into the metal, breaking right through the plating as if it wasn't there. A shock went through his arms, sending pain through his entire body. He yelled in agony and she managed to get her legs up and under his stomach plating. With a mighty kick, she launched him off of her and into the air. He didn't have time to activate his wings and crashed into the landing pad. She got up, her legs and other places bleeding internal fluids, and ran over to him, wishing she still had her gun. Thanks to him the chain she'd stolen from the stockade back on Cybertron was broken and useless. All she had left was her own abilities and her teeth and she really didn't want to bite him.

With all her luck he was stale too.

She saw he was starting to get up. She could not have that. She lunged at him, crashing into his back and knocking him down. She grabbed his left arm and pulled it behind him, using her leg to pin it against his back. He wiggled around in an attempt to free himself but she just added more weight to it. She wrapped her other around around his neck, pulling it back. He used his free hand to grab that arm and try to pry it loose. She actually felt her arm beginning to give but she forced it to stay where it was. He might be strong but she was stronger when her will was up. She would not lose to what she considered an inferior machine.

"Do you like that?" she asked, pulling back. "Huh? You might not be enjoying this but I am!"

He let out that strange scream. Shadowstar ground her teeth together as the sound tortured her audio receptors. Why did he have to do that?

"Stop that!"

Stop he did but only because he found another way to get her off of him. His face found her arm. Out of sheer desperation he put his mouth over it and bit down.

* * *

Prowl felt a great sense of relief when the cuffs came off. He heaved a sigh and rubbed his wrists which had gotten kind of numb from being bound for so long. The first thing Sari did when her arms were free was punch XR's head off.

"Hey!" the robot shouted. "What did you do that for?"

She glared at him, rubbing her fist. "That was for looking up my dress on the ship," she informed him.

"You sure have forgiveness issues," XR grumbled as his body tried to find his head. "I said I was sorry."

She grinned at him. "and now you are forgiven."

He looked like he was about to comment on that then changed his mind. Mira picked up his head and placed it back on his body. "Maybe you should give her some space?" she suggested.

"Why should I?" he demanded. "It's not my fault she-"

"Hey, don't blame this on me, googleface!" Sari cut him off. "You're the little pervert that decided to poke his optics where they didn't belong!"

Commander Nebula didn't really notice what was happening behind him. If he had he would have seen Sari kick XR in the chest and knock him over. He was too busy talking to Prowl. "So there really is another dimension out there?" he said. "I know there's one with an evil Buzz but I didn't think there was more than a mirror of this world."

"I can assure you that there are more," Prowl told him. He looked at Mira. "The female there already told you that. Until today I didn't even know this universe existed. My master mentioned the possibility a few times but I didn't believe him."

"Anyway," Nebula said. "Why don't you tell us about this vampire you're after?"

Oh yes, Shadowstar. He'd almost forgotten about her. "Well her body is painted in different shades of red and black," he explained. "She can turn into a fighter jet."

"Wait!" Buzz exclaimed, cutting him off. "She can change shape?"

"That's right," Prowl told him. "Just like I can. I told you. I'm a transformer."

"Really?" Booster asked, suddenly interested. "What can you turn into?"

"A motorcycle," the cyber ninja answered, looking at him.

"Can we see?" the red alien questioned.

Prowl wasn't sure about that. "I..," he began

"Oh please please please!" Booster begged.

Prowl slapped his face against his palm. "Oh all right." then he transformed, going into vehicle mode.

Now everyone had their eyes on him. "Oooooo!" Booster and Mira said in awe. Buzz whistled. "Impressive."

XR wasn't as stimulated. "That's not that great," he commented.

Sari gave him a look. "What can you do besides popping out guns?' she asked, slapping his chest. A ray gun popped out of it.

"Hey, be careful with that," he said, putting the gun back.

"Whatever." she walked over to Prowl who went back into standard mode. "You think that is cool you should see what I can do." she said.

Prowl looked at her, noticing she was about to go into battle mode. He instantly grabbed her arm and gave it a jerk, pulling her head until her ear was near his mouth. "I think it's a good idea for you to pretend to be a normal human," he said.

She looked at him. "Why?" she wanted to know.

"They might not know what to think of you and.."

She got what he was saying. "Oh. sorry."

Prowl let her go and turned to the Commander. "Uh, Commander," he said to him. "I don't mean to sound like I am in a rush or anything but I really need to head back to Trade World."

"Oh yeah," he said. "You have to find your vampire."

"Well yes," he said.

"Don't worry about it," the Commander said. "We'll get you back there. In fact we'll help you find it." he looked at Buzz. "Lightyear here is the best Space Ranger we have. If anyone can help you with this he can."

Prowl said nothing. He didn't really want to spend anymore time with the space rangers. Not after what had happened earlier. He didn't feel comfortable with it but he didn't want to offend the man so he said nothing. He only nodded his head.

"Okay then," Nebula said. "Let's get you prepared." he put a hand on his back and led him down the hall.

The other followed. Sari noticed XR was rolling behind her and ran to catch up with Prowl. She fell in step with Mira. "Is that tin can of yours always like this?" she asked, glancing back at XR.

Mira looked back at him too. "He's not as bad as you think," she told her. "He might not look like much but he's actually really nice and a good friend."

The girl folded her arms. "I'll believe that when I see it."

_A/N_

_I am going to continue posting this even if nobody really reds it. As long as one person likes this fic I'm going to keep posting the chapters. _


	6. Chapter 6

CHAP 6

Shadowstar's optics widened when she felt his fangs beginning to puncture the armor on her arm. She gasped and quickly jerked her arm away before he drew anything. She did not want him draining her because she knew if he did she would become his slave. She did not like him so why would she want to work for him?

When she reacted he reacted.

Nos-4-A2 twisted around, easily breaking free from her grip. He slammed her in the face with a closed fist, breaking one of her blood red optics. Glass went flying in all directions.

The fembot screamed in agony and stepped away, her hands covering her face. While she was distracted, he hit her again, knocking her off her feet.

"Sparks," she groaned, getting up, her hand still covering her optic. She focused on his image. He was hovering over her, his cape tattered and his own damage bleeding from the blows he'd sustained from her. He'd activated his wings and they flapped slowly up and down, keeping him in the air. "Ready for round two?" he asked, telling her right away he knew she wasn't damaged bad enough to give up.

No, she wasn't. She didn't want a second round though. But she didn't want him to win either. If he won she was a goner.

_No. I won't allow it! I've been beaten by things I hate long enough! This wannabe won't have that satisfaction. _

She activated the thrusters in her feet and slowly rose into the air. She moved her hand away from her eye, barely registering the mech fluid bleeding onto it. She fixed both optics on him, noticing she could see her reflection in his monocle. "I was going to ask you the same thing, freak."

* * *

Warp Darkmatter had found him! He felt so proud of himself as he stared down the eye of the rifle which was set on the energy vampire. Thanks to the scanner he was able to find him in less time than when it wasn't working properly. _Now if you would just hold still for a moment, _he thought. _This won't hurt a bit._

But Nos-4-A2 wasn't holding still. He was moving around too fast and too erratically. Like he was fighting something or low on power and having a hard time staying aloft. Warp put down the gun and picked up his binoculars, zeroing them in on the area. Now he saw that the vampire did indeed seem to be occupied by something, though he couldn't make it out very well because it seemed to blend in with the shadows.

Warp set down the binoculars and picked up the sniper rifle. He would worry about that later. Right now all he needed to focus on was the energy vampire.

* * *

He couldn't keep this up for much longer. Fighting the femme was draining his energy faster than he expected. If he continued, he'd go offline. He had to feed, now!

But the female wasn't going to let him. She was determined to kill him but he noticed she was getting tired too. Her flight pattern was erratic and more than one place on her body was bleeding, not that none of his parts weren't. She would have to feed too.

He punched her in the face once more, knocking her away from him. It was a weak hit but something happened when he did it. Her wings seemed to shatter and her entire body lit up as if she'd been electrocuted. Her optics flashed Christmas colors then blinked out. She spiraled downward and hit the landing pad hard. This time she didn't get up.

He stared at her body for a moment, surprised. _Oh my. _

That was it. It was over. No more. He had won.

Even if she wasn't dead he couldn't keep this up. He had to feed.

Activating his wings, though he knew that would use up more energy than just hovering, he let out a roar and shot away.

* * *

Warp Darkmatter cursed and slapped his gun. Just when he thought he'd gotten a good shot that other thing had gotten in the way and he wound up hitting it instead. Now Nos-4-A2 was getting away and he couldn't do anything about it. _Craters!_

He might as well just get a look at his consolation prize, even if it wasn't what Zurg ordered him to shoot.

Putting the gun away he climbed down off the roof and headed over to the fallen machine. He knew it was a machine because when he'd hit it it had lit up like a neon light and parts of it had broken off. When he reached it he stood over it, studying the body.

Yes, it was a machine and a strange one at that.

It looked nothing like any of the robots he'd seen anywhere in the galaxy. It's body had an almost human design to it and it's face looked like that of a young woman's except the nose was too flat and it had optics instead of eyes, though one of them was shattered. Where hair would have been was a helmet. When he looked at the body again he realized it looked very.. female in anatomy.

It was a girl!

_So a female robot was fighting with Nos-4-A2, _he thought. _But why? _he wondered. _Was he dating her and they had a bad break up or something?_

Somehow he doubted that. She didn't seem his type, if he even had one.

_Okay then why? _

He got his answer two seconds later when the fembot's optics activated and she lunged at him, latching her teeth onto his cyborg arm.

He freaked, hitting at her head with his gun while she drained his energy. As she did he saw the cracks in her frame beginning to disappear. She was using the energy from the cybernetics in his arm to repair herself!

_What the hell? _

Warp hit her in the head again, this time harder. She let out a yelp then went limp, her teeth coming out of his arm as she fell back to the pavement. The man poked her gently with the toe of his boot. She did not react. She was out cold.

He sighed in relief and looked down at his arm. Now drained of its energy it hung limply. He saw puncture marks in the metal where her teeth had gone in. They were deep. Well now he got his answer. She was a vampire too! No wonder Nos-4-A2 was fighting with her.

And that was the exact instant his boss decided to call.

* * *

"Ooooo!"

At the sound of voices speaking in unison Sari looked toward the floor. She spotted some weird little three eyed green men in blue jump suits staring at her or was it Prowl? in fascination.

The group had left the hall and entered another part of the command center. This part looked like a garage or one of Professor Sumdac's assembly factories. Sari had not expected the workers here to look so weird, but then again, all the creatures in this universe were weird looking.

"What in the world are those things?" she asked, pointing at the little aliens.

Buzz looked at the little green men and didn't seem the least bit upset by them. As if he saw them all the time and it was totally natural. "Oh that's just the LGMs," he told her.

"LGMs?" she said, looking back at him. "What are those?"

"Little Green Men," XR spoke up, wheeling beside her.

"Little green men?" Sari asked. "Yeah, that's original."

One of the LGMs studied her for a moment. "You have a funny scent about you," he commented.

"Hey!" the girl said, offended. "I do not stink!"

"He did not mean you stank," another corrected her. "He means you don't smell organic."

Sari noticed XR giving her a funny look. "I don't know what you're talking about!" she exclaimed. "You must be smelling things."

By then Prowl had noticed the LGMs as well. They interested him. He walked over to the little aliens and knelt down for a better look, his hand on his chin. "Fascinating."

The LGMs seemed just as fascinated with Prowl was he was with them. Three more, that had been working on something else, stopped their work and came over to get a look at the Autobot. Sari was relieved that their attention had been diverted. They had almost revealed that she was part machine.

"Ooo shiny," one said after getting a close look at Prowl's Autobot insignia.

"It's a face," another added.

"Actually it's the Autobot insignia," Prowl told them.

"What's an Autobot?" a third questioned.

"All right, back to work you lazy bums," Commander Nebula intervened, shooing the LGMs away. "You can take the Autobot apart later." when he saw the look Prowl gave him he added. "Not literally."

"Ahh." the little aliens walked away, looking very disappointed. That made Prowl nervous. They actually thought Nebula had been serious!

"Don't worry about the LGMs," Nebula said, turning back to him. "They're basically harmless."

"What exactly do they do?" Sari wanted to know, as she watched the little green men run around in what seemed to her like meaningless circles.

"Just about everything," the Commander explained. "These little guys are very useful. They can build things, repair things, and if it comes to it, take things apart." he glanced at XR. "Like certain expendable robots."

Luckily XR did not hear that comment. He was too busy glaring at the LGMs as if they had done something he didn't approve of.

"So basically you rely on them for everything and if they weren't here everything would be in a huge mess," Sari summed it up.

"Well if you want to put it that way..." the man said.

"Ha! I knew it! They're your slaves!' she stated.

"They are not," the Commander informed her. "They work here."

"What do you pay them?" she questioned. "Beans?"

"Sari!" Prowl scolded.

"What?"

"Don't be rude."

"Okay. I'm sorry." Just then Sari's stomach started growling. "Uh.. you wouldn't happen to have any thing to eat here would you?" she asked.

"Now food we have," the commander replied, thankful for a change of topic. He turned and started down the hall. "This way."

The others quickly followed.

Well except for Prowl, but only because a strange feeling washed over him. He felt as if he'd been drained of power. The Autobot shook his head, sending the thought away. _Not now. _

He noticed XR wasn't going after them either. The little robot looked up at him. "What are you staring at?" he asked him.

The cyber ninja was honest. "I was wondering why you seem so upset," he answered. "Is there something wrong?"

"No," XR told him, his voice saying there was plenty wrong. "Nothing a high and mighty Autobot would be able to understand."

"Huh?" What was this all of a sudden? "What are you talking about?"

"You-oh never mind," XR rolled away. "Come on. We'd better catch up to the others before we lose them."

* * *

"I demand a status report!" Warp's boss shouted into the communicator. "Now!"

"Whoa!" the man exclaimed, moving the device from his ear. "There's no need to shout."

"There is plenty of reason to shout!" the voice on the other end informed him. "I ordered you to capture that vampire two days ago! Why haven't you contacted me?"

"Well, Zurg," Warp said, putting his hand on his hip. "It's like this. I just got to Trade World six hours ago and finding Nos-4-A2 isn't like finding space elephants. Your _son_ is small and can fit in places I can't. Plus the hardware you gave me to find him is as old as the universe itself and just as crappy." he glared at the flat pad. "Have you ever tried upgrading?"

"Don't give me excuses!" Zurg shouted loud enough that the man had to hold the phone at arm's length. "Just give me results. Did you find him?"

"Yes," Warp Darkmatter told him. "I did find him."

"Oh," Zurg's voice lost it's anger instantly. "Then you have him then?"

"No, I do not have him," the man told him.

It all came back. "_What_!?"

"But I have something just as good."

"Huh?" now he was confused. "What are you talking about?"

Warp Darkmatter looked down at the unconscious fembot vampire. "I'll tell you when I get back." then he hung up before Zurg started squawking.

* * *

Nos-4-A2 did not stay around to find out who had shot the fembot or for what reason for it was. He just flew off, his mind on energy. If he had lingered he would have seen a familiar figure climbing down from the roof of a nearby building and getting a look at what he'd hit. Doing so also might have alerted the energy vampire of a future problem. But he wasn't thinking that and he wasn't dumb enough to hang around.

Whoever had shot the female vampire had done him a favor but they might try to shoot him as well if he lingered.

His sensors picked up the energy signature of a wandering soda machine. He zeroed in on its location then paused and dived toward it. Time to feed, then time to return to his coffin for a good recharge. With all the things that happened he definitely needed it.

He would repair himself after he woke up.

* * *

Sari didn't like the food. It had looked good when she'd seen it but when she finally had it heaped on her plate and given it a taste she spit it out. "Oh ew!" she exclaimed, scrunching up her face and sticking out her tongue. "What is this?"

"It's called Tangean Surprise," Buzz Lightyear said, as bits of food ran down his face.

Sari stared at him. "Oops," she said, realizing she'd spit on him. "Sorry about that."

"Don't worry," he said, wiping his face off with a napkin. "It happens all the time."

"I don't see why you guys are always complaining about it," Mira said from her own seat. She had just as much of the gumbo as Sari had taken. She took a bite of it. "It tastes fine to me."

"I guess people on your planet don't have taste buds," Sari commented, pushing the plate away. "Don't you have anything normal around here? Like cheeseburgers?"

"What's a cheeseburger?" Mira asked.

"Meat," Buzz replied.

"Oh."

"Well do you have one?" Sari asked. "Or maybe some chicken noodle soup? Please tell me you have chicken noodle!"

"Nope. Sorry."

Sari looked like she was about to faint. "You mean all you have here is weird food with funky flavors?" she asked. "Nothing normal at all?"

"Well we do have Lima beans," Booster told her, shoving a plate full of them toward her.

The girl made a face. "Wonderful," she said sarcastically. She shot Prowl a look that said: "See what I mean?"

But he wasn't paying any attention. The cyber ninja was in the middle of a discussion with Commander Nebula. "So you're telling me that you have no idea what space bridge technology is?" he asked.

The Commander shook his head. "Nope, I'm afraid not," he replied. "Is it some kind of warp system?"

"Yeah you could say that," the cyber ninja told him. "It can send you from one place to another instantly."

"Hmm that sounds like a complicated system," the man commented, rubbing his chin. "But unfortunately we don't have it here, not even in early stages."

Prowl sighed. He should have known. If and when he managed to capture Shadowstar there was no way that any of them could get back to their normal universe. Oh how he wished Bulkhead had fallen through the portal with him.

"Maybe you should worry about that after you found your vampire," Commander Nebula suggested. "It might be a good idea to worry about one thing at a time."

"You're right," the cyber ninja agreed. Right now he was worried about his energy levels which were starting to deplete. But he said nothing to the Commander about it. "We have to find Shadowstar first. She is the bigger problem at the moment." he met the Commander's eyes. "For the record I apologize for bringing her here in the first place. It must be hard on you. Seeing as there are now two energy vampires feeding on machines."

"Right now I won't allow it to get to me," Commander Nebula said, getting up. "Just as long as you find her quickly. In the meantime.. if you happen to run into Nos-4-A2 while you're looking for her may I suggest taking him out? The sooner I have both vampires taken care of the better for all of us." he walked away, adding. "When you're finished getting ready, Buzz and the rest of you can head back to _42_. Just don't get into trouble before then or I will be forced to incarcerate you both."

The man had nothing to worry about. Prowl had no intention of prolonging their stay or letting Sari do something out of curiosity. But he sensed she didn't want to stay there either, just by her body language and the face she was making as she forced down her food.

_But that's not the half of it. _he realized. _If I run out of energy Sari will have to do everything by herself and I know she doesn't really like Buzz or his crew. _

Hopefully his energy would stay at the level it was until everything was taken care of but even as he sat there it dipped further and further toward the danger zone.

* * *

A few minutes later the Autobots and Team Lightyear left the cafeteria and headed toward another part of the space station. Sari didn't look very happy. Since she didn't like any of the food there she'd been forced to shove down the Lima beans Booster had offered. "Next time I fall through a space bridge, I'll bring some cheeseburgers with me," she grumbled, looking sick to her stomach.

"Don't worry about that," Buzz told her. "I know of a place that serves cheeseburgers."

"Real ones or one made from bantha meat?" she asked, suspiciously.

"Real ones," he told her. "I don't even know what a bantha is. Sorry about the cafeteria food. We usually don't eat here."

"Oh really?" she asked suspicious. "Where else do you eat?"

"A nice little restaurant near the outer edge." he replied. "We'll stop by there on the way to Trade World."

"No thanks," she said. "With my luck they probably put something weird in it. Like fish lips."

Buzz made a face, as if the very idea was disgusting, but before he could comment on that Prowl stumbled and fell into him, knocking him over.

"Hey!" Buzz shouted, trying to push him off. "What gives?"

"Prowl?" Sari said, stopping and looking at him. "Prowl?" He didn't respond.

"PROWL!" she exclaimed, kneeling down beside him. She tried to help him up but found he was too heavy. "Hey!" she shouted to the others. "A little help here."

Booster stepped in and lifted the cyber ninja off of Buzz. Prowl didn't even react to the red alien's help. He just hung limply from his grip.

Lightyear, now no longer under the heavy machine, got up. "What in the world was that about?" he asked.

Sari got one look at Prowl's face and knew what had happened. "He's low on energy," she stated.

"Oh, is that all?" Lightyear said. "Well then why didn't he say something about it? We could have given him some oil or something."

"Are you off your rocker!?" the girl exclaimed, rounding on him. Her blue eyes flashed in panic and anger at his ignorance. "Prowl isn't like all the other machines here."

"Yeah he's special," XR said sarcastically.

That was the wrong time to make such comments. Sari spun around kicked off his head. "You shut up!" she shouted. "You don't know what you're talking about! Prowl might be different from you but that's not the reason for why he just went into status lock!"

"Then why did he?" Lightyear wanted to know as Mira put XR's head back onto his body.

"He needs a certain type of fuel and none of you have it!" the girl explained.

"What's it called?"

But in the state she was in, Sari could not remember the name of it. Instead she looked back at Prowl. She noticed his optics had winked out. Yes, he was in stasis lock.

"Do you think a recharge bed would help him?" Mira spoke up.

"I don't know," the girl said, beginning to panic. If Prowl went offline.. why did he even have to black out now anyway? Now of all times! What was going on? What happened to his power? She thought he'd recharged that morning. She grabbed her head, afraid it would explode. "I don't know what will work!"

Buzz put his hand on her shoulder. She looked at him. His face was serious. "Why don't we try it?" he asked her. "It might not be able to recharge him fully but it should give him enough juice to tell us what he needs."

She met his eyes. Something told her to trust him. "Okay," she agreed, nodding. "That's all I can do."

_A/N_

_I know little about what they eat but I don't think they have hamburgers. Not if my memory serves me right. By the way XR and Prowl aren't going to get along very well. That wasn't going to be the way it was when I started the story but it seemed like a good way to develop the plot. _


	7. Chapter 7

CHAP 7

_**Internal repairs one hundred percent. Stasis lock terminated.... Power levels twenty five percent and steadying. **_

"Okay just a little longer. Don't leave him on there too long or it might fry his circuits."

Prowl was slowly coming to. The voice he was hearing did not sound like anything he remembered. If it was Ratchet, he must have damaged his vocalizer.

"This had better work.," he heard a familiar voice say. "If you kill him I'll blow this entire station out of orbit and don't think I _won't_!"

"It seems to be working. See? his color is brightening up again. He'll be fine."

"Ugh."

"He's waking up!" three voices that sounded exactly alike exclaimed.

Prowl's optics flickered and came to focus on three little green, three eyed faces. "He's awake!" one of them called to somebody he could not see.

"Prowl!"

He heard running footsteps then Sari was leaning over him, her dark features full of relief.. "How are you feeling?"

"Not very well," he replied, trying to sit up. He noticed he was lying on some kind of tanning bed. But it wasn't really that because his chest was open and a kind of wire was plugged into him and a port on the side of the bed.

"Let me help you," Sari said, noticing his struggle. She put out her hand.

Grateful, he took it. "Ugh, what happened?" he questioned as she pulled him into a sitting position.

"You ran out of energy," she explained. "and then you kind of blacked out."

"Sparks," Prowl cursed, looking away. "I knew it."

The girl stared at him. "Knew what?" she asked.

Prowl put his hand to his head and looked at her. His optics were dimmed. "I'm low on energy," he replied. "I should have recharged this morning."

"Why didn't you?" she demanded.

"I didn't know this would happen," he told her, shaking his head. "I was going to get some energon once I got to Cybertron but-"

"Energon!" she exclaimed, snapping her fingers. "That's what it was!"

By then Buzz and his team had joined them. "Energon," the space ranger said looking like he had no idea what they were talking about. "What is that?"

"It's the fuel Prowl needs," Sari explained, looking at him. "It's different than any kind of energy source you might have here."

"Yes," Prowl replied, looking at the space ranger, his voice dead serious. "That's what I need. This recharge won't last for very long. If I don't get some energon soon..." his voice trailed off.

"Prowl, I don't want to sound like your mother but maybe you should have had some this morning." Sari told him.

"I know that now," he told her.

"So you needed it even before you go here." Buzz stated.

"Something like that."

"So what are we going to do?" Booster wanted to know. He too was worried about the Autobot though he barely knew him. "We don't have any energon!"

"No," Buzz confirmed, rubbing his chin. "But I think we might be able to use something else."

Prowl looked at him, his expression doubtful. "What else can you use?" he wanted to know. "Energon isn't like any other form of energy. It's very powerful and rare."

Buzz acted like he did not hear that. "Tell me," he said. "Does this energon have any other use besides fueling transformers like you?"

"It's the main power source for everything on Cybertron," Prowl replied. "It comes in two forms. Cubes and crystals."

"Crystals huh?" Lightyear smiled. "I think I have an idea."

They all looked at him. "Like what?" Sari questioned. "You gonna magically create energon out of thin air?"

"No," Buzz told her. "We can't create energon because we most likely don't have the necessary components, but I think we might be able to get something that will be just as good."

"Oh?" Sari looked doubtful. "Like how?"

He smiled at her. "Just trust me."

She didn't reply.

"All right," Prowl said. She looked at him. "It's better than doing nothing." the cyber ninja told her. He tried to stand up but was too low on energy to do so. Booster stepped in and grabbed Prowl's shoulders. He pulled him to his feet. The cyber ninja nearly fell over but the alien managed to keep him standing. Prowl looked at Buzz. "Why don't you show me what you intend to use for this."

Buzz turned away from him. "Follow me."

* * *

Shadowstar's whole body was aching as she came around a few hours later. She moaned as she came to and tried to move into a better position that wouldn't hurt so much. But she couldn't move, something was holding her down.

Being immobile had been one of her greatest fears for vorns ever since an incident in her past. She panicked, thrashing her body around in an attempt to become mobile. She succeeded in moving a little but no more than that. Her optics flickered then came on, her broken optic seeing everything in black and white while her intact one saw color which created a strange other worldly affect on everything. Not that there was much to see.

She found herself staring at the dark blue of.. space? No, there were no stars. This was a ceiling.

She was inside a building.

No, not a building. She heard the hum of an engine. She was in some kind of vehicle. _How did I get here? _

The last thing she remembered before going offline was her vampiric rival socking her in the face then a shock coursing through her body and damaging her extensively. She knew the other vampire robot was not responsible for that because his punch had been so weak she barely felt it. But, if it wasn't him, who had done that to her and why?

Well she wasn't just going to lie there and wait for the answer to come to her.

But when she tried to move she found she couldn't and this time she knew why. She was attached to a giant magnet rendering her immobile, or at least that was her theory. Whenever she attempted to do anything the magnets would hold her in place. She wasn't going anywhere. Even if it wasn't a giant magnet she still couldn't move.

Wonderful.

She gave up struggling and rested. Well, since she wasn't going to be moving any time soon, she might as well run a scan and find out how much damage she had. It would give her a better idea on how much energy she needed for repairs. That actually took longer than she thought it would.

Nearly a half hour later she was informed by her internal computer of every single scratch. There were plenty of those. Plus her wings were shattered and useless and the puncture wounds from NOS-4-A2's claws weren't just on her legs. He'd managed to scratch other places as well. But she had to smile because she had given just as much as she got, even though that robot was much stronger than he looked.

_With or without legs that wannabe is powerful, _she realized. _I wonder what he tastes like?_

_What in the world are you thinking about, girl? You have more important things to worry about than how much an inferior machine tastes. _

Oh yeah. She didn't know who had attached her to that magnet, if that was what was keeping her from moving. When she found out who it was she vowed to make that person pay. _It's probably the same person who shot me. _

She couldn't wait to meet this person face to face.

* * *

Buzz led the group down into the section of the space station that housed the power core. "What's that?" Prowl asked looking into the room with the reactor.

"That's the crystalic fusion reactor," Buzz explained."'It's what powers Star Command." he looked into the chamber. "The crystals we use are some of the most powerful in the galaxy."

"and what do you want Prowl to do?" Sari asked, folding her arms. "Walk into the core and absorb the energy?" she glanced at the reactor. "Are you crazy?"

"Of course not," Lightyear told her. He looked up and saw Mira who was staring into the reactor. She had a hungry look on her face, as if she was considering walking into the core herself. "We already had to deal with that problem in the past and it wasn't a good idea." Mira saw him looking at her and stepped back, embarrassed.

"So that what are we going to do then?" Sari demanded.

He made the solution seem so simple. "We're going to try to turn some of the crystalic power into fuel."

Everyone stared at him. "Is that even possible, Buzz?" Booster asked who was keeping Prowl on his feet by holding onto his arms.

"I don't know," the human admitted. "But we won't know until we try it."

Sari did not like the idea. It did not even seem possible. She looked at Prowl who was staring at the reactor core, wanting to know his opinion on the idea. His face held a blank expression as if he was deep in thought. "Prowl."

"It might work," he said in a low voice. He sounded like he was doing a survey on the odds of it working. "If you can somehow turn the energy into liquid form."

"That shouldn't be too hard," one of the LGMs that had gone with them said. "All we need to do is change the cellular makeup."

"Oh, like that's going to be as simple as you said," XR commented, folding his arms. "Why don't we just give him some motor oil?"

"XR!" Mira scolded. "You know we can't do that! What the matter with you?"

"Nothing," the robot told her. "I just don't see why this is such a big deal or why you're even falling for this. It's obvious he just wants attention."

"Why would he want attention?"

"I don't know," he replied, turning and rolling a short distance away. "Maybe so that he can stay in the spotlight."

Sari heard him. "What do you know about it?" she demanded, turning on him. She glared at him, clenching her fists at her sides. "You didn't spend three years of your life being good friends with Prowl. He's one of the most selfless people I know."

The smaller robot wasn't moved by her statement. "Of course _you_ would say that."

The girl looked like she was about to kick off XR's head again but Mira took her arm and pulled her away from him. "Just forget it," she told her. "XR is just as worried as the rest of us-"

"I am not!" he shot back.

"But he doesn't know how to show it," the Tangean finished. "Just don't let him get to you. He has some issues he needs to straighten out."

"Like what?" Sari demanded, glaring at the woman. "Besides being a pervert and a jerk?" She looked away before Mira could comment glared at XR, who glared right back. She knew she was never going to like XR, no matter what anyone said about him. "I might be able to fix that little issue."

XR noticed her left hand glowing and put more space between himself and her. "Okay, I'm sorry," he said, putting up his arms. "There's no need to resort to violence."

Sari's hand powered down as she said. "_I'm _not the one you should be apologizing to."

"Forget it, Sari," Prowl said, who had heard the entire exchange.

She looked at the Autobot. "But-"

"It's not a big deal," he told her. He looked at XR. "The fact doesn't bother me."

But it bothered Sari. She couldn't understand why the other robot was being so sour toward Prowl. Was he angry at him about something? He sounded jealous, like the fact that Prowl's abilities fascinated everyone, bothered him. Yeah maybe that's what it was, but he would have to get over it. If things went the way they were supposed to he wouldn't have anything to worry about very soon. Sari intended to be back in her own universe before too long if there weren't any more set backs.

Just then one of the LGMs shouted. "I got it!" which drew everyone's attention back to the reason why they had even come down there in the first place.

"What have you got?" Sari asked, peeking over his shoulder. She saw some kind of weird spiraling formula on the monitor screen. "Did you convert some of the energy in fuel?"

"Better than that; we sent some of the energy to the recharge bed the Autobot was connected to earlier," the LGM explained. "All he has to do is hook himself back up and the energy will go into his systems."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Sari asked, grabbing Prowl's arms and beginning to drag him away. "Let's get this done!"

"Hold it there, young lady," Buzz said, putting up his hand. "First they have to convert it."

She stopped and looked at him. "How long will that take?"

"About an hour," the alien replied.

"Well until then, we're going back upstairs and waiting for it there," the girl said, not wanting to stay near the core any longer. The energy coming from it made her feel weird and she didn't like it. She pulled on Prowl's arm. "Come on."

* * *

Shadowstar heard a door opening but was unable to turn her head to see who was there. Heavy footsteps reached her audio receptors then stopped. She heard breathing then a voice speaking to somebody. "Okay, let's get it out of here."

Hands grabbed her arms and she was pulled to her feet. Because she hadn't moved in the longest time and she was low on power her legs were a tad bit weak and she nearly fell over. But the hands on her were strong and kept her up. She became aware of the fact that her hands were behind her back and would stay there. The magnet must have removed her sense of feeling because she should have realized that sooner. The same with the pain in her back from her broken wings... and from the rest of her damage which had hurt but only slightly.

Something stepped in front of her, blocking her view. She lifted her head and saw a blue colored face with dark blue hair staring down at her. This was definitely not the energy vampire she'd been fighting with earlier.

"Who in Cybertron are you?" she demanded.

"It talks," the being said, not really surprised.

"You make that sounds like it's a bad thing," she growled. She had only met him and she didn't like him. "What are you supposed to be anyway? Some kind of bounty hunter turned lame super hero?"

It did not comment. She saw by the look on its face that it didn't really like the idea of something he might consider an unacceptable monster being smart enough to speak. She could also tell that her comment had offended him but he was choosing not to address it at the moment. It looked at the things, two orange and black robots, holding her. "Let's get her inside."

The silent machines nodded and led her out of the room which was part of a ship. They walked her off the ship and outside. Right away she noticed that the air was colored. Red. A lot of red. Red clouds, red smoke, even red lights. The whole planet was red, like Mars only with buildings and many many robots that all looked the same and moved around as if they had some kind of purpose.

The blue skinned being led her to a tall building on the other side of the landing pad. She looked up at it, noticing the large letter Z carved into the wall near the top. They took her inside the Z marked building and down a gray-ish blue colored hall toward a large room in the center of the building. Once they were in the room they stopped. Shadowstar got a good look around. The room had windows or was it computer screens? covering the walls and it seemed cramped with strange looking technology. In the very center of the room was a throne and behind that a kind of glassed in reactor.

The blue being focused his attention over toward the throne. "I'm back," he called to somebody sitting on it.

"Ah Darkmatter," a not so deep voice said as the figure on the throne stood. "I was wondering when you'd get back." the figure headed toward them. Shadowstar noticed it seemed to be gliding or it just looked that way because it wore a really long... dress? As it got closer she realized it looked rather strange. It's mouth didn't even move when it talked. "Now you can tell me what you meant by-" it noticed her. "What in the name of Jupiter is that thing?" it demanded, pointing at her.

"That thing, Evil Emperor Zurg is the being I was referring to on the phone," Darkmatter replied.

"Oh really?" the thing named Zurg stepped toward Shadowstar and studied her a moment, his hand on his chin. This close she realized it was male, not just from the voice but his anatomy. "It doesn't look like much." he tried to poke her face. "In fact it looks like you pulled it out of the scrap heap. Why is it-" she tried to bite him "WAH!" he pulled his hand away. "So you're a biter too."

She hissed at him.

Zurg ignored her and turned on Warp. "You were supposed to bring me Nos-4-A2, not this useless female robot!" he shouted.

"Useless female robot?" Warp exclaimed offended by the accusation. "You have no idea what you're _talking _about."

"Don't use that tone with me, Darkmatter!" Zurg shouted. "I know _exactly_ what I'm talking about!" he pointed at the fembot. "That thing is useless! Just look at her body!"

"There is a perfectly good reason why I kept her body the way it is." Warp raised his cyborg arm and shoved it into the other man's face. "This might explain it better."

Zurg shoved it away. "I don't want to look at your arm," he snapped.

"Well maybe you should do it anyway," Darkmatter told him. "It'll give you the answer better than anything I say."

"Oh all right." and he did, just to humor the man. That's when he spotted the fang marks. They created deep puncture wounds in the silver metal. The emperor wasn't impressed. "So you got a little bite from something, big deal?"

"A little bite?" Warp snapped. "I don't call my arm powering down to uselessness a little bite!"

"Well maybe you shouldn't have gotten so close to NOS-4-A2."

"_NOS-4-A2 _didn't do this to my arm!" he pointed at the femme. "_She_ did!"

"Oh poppy cock! You don't exactly think I'll believe such rubbish do you?" Zurg asked, putting a hand on his chest. "I mean really. What kind of damage could that little junk heap do?"

Warp looked over his shoulder. He noticed something and pointed, smirking. "How about that much?"

"Huh?" Zurg turned around to face the fembot. "AH! Oh my!"

Shadowstar had somehow got her fangs into one of the hornet robots. Her mouth was wrapped around its arm and she was draining the energy out of it, even as it tried to get away from her. The charge lit up her frame which was slowly beginning to repair itself, including her shattered wings. When she finished draining the hornet she let it go and it crashed to the floor. With that one drained she turned on the other one.

Zurg watched her, his eyes bugging out of his head. Warp on the other hand wasn't surprised at all since his arm had been her meal before and he was over the shock factor, even though watching her made him nervous. He wondered if NOS-4-A2 fed that way too. Since he had never really met the energy vampire in person he did not know.

"I told you," he said in a totally calm voice.

Zurg rounded him him. "You lunatic! Why did you have to bring that freak in here?" he demanded. "Why didn't you take her to a cell where I could look at her through bars?!"

Warp smirked. "Too late now," he said, folding his arms.

"Yeah, too late for both of you." spoke up a female voice.

Both men looked back at the fembot energy vampire. She had finished consuming the second hornet which had joined its partner on the floor. Her frame glowed which is what it did when it used energy to repair itself. Most of the damage she'd sustained from her fight with NOS-4-A2 was completely repaired.

"Ah! How did you do that?" Zurg demanded.

Shadowstar grinned. "It's my specialty," she said. There was a snap and the metal holding her wrists together snapped. "Just like dishing out punishment on people who tick me off!" She lunged at them.

* * *

"Okay we're ready to start," the LGM said once Prowl was back on the recharge table and Buzz, his team, and the little aliens had returned from the reactor core. "Just lay back and relax. This should take no longer than ten minutes."

Prowl nodded and did what he was told.

"I hope this works," Sari said, looking from Prowl to the computer then back to Prowl.

"It will," the LGM assured her.

But the techno organic girl was having a hard time trusting them. These were the guys who'd gone starry eyed when Commander Nebula made that joke about taking Prowl apart. "What if it doesn't and he dies?" she asked the aliens.

Before they could answer XR butted in. "Then you can take him apart," he said to the LGMs.

They looked at him, almost hopefully. "Really?"

Sari rounded on the robot, looking ready to kick his head off. He sensed it and backed away. "Who asked you!?" she shouted at him. "Who gave you the authority to decide what happens to him if this doesn't work? Get out of here!"

"Fine!" he wheeled away but didn't leave the room. Instead he stopped at the door and turned around, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He glared at the other people in the room, muttering under his breath.

Meanwhile the LGMs were working at the computer, carefully working on the delicate procedure of transferring crystal core energy into Prowl. They had never done such a thing before so they weren't sure if it would work. They would have to be very careful. Something told them making a mistake would cause a lot of pain, for them. The strange smelling girl had an evil aura around her at the moment. It seemed to be saying. "Do it right or die."

Sari stood over the recharge bed, looking into Prowl's face. His optics were out because he said going into his recharge state would help it go better. He said if he was offline he wouldn't risk frying anything important, like his memory. She wasn't sure. That state just made him look dead.

_Don't die on me, Prowl. _she thought, reaching out to touch his arm. _ If you die I'll be stuck here by myself without any friends. _

She knew Lightyear and his team were just putting up with them. They would rather have nothing to do with them if they had the choice. But that Commander Nebula guy had ordered them to keep on eye on the Autobots so they were stuck with them. The only one who really seemed to be trying to be honestly nice was Booster. But maybe being nice was something that came natural for him, not that she didn't mind. He might actually become a good friend if they stayed long enough. Buzz seemed all business, XR was a rude panty peeping pervert and Mira.. well she didn't have much of an opinion on Mira. The Tangean seemed okay, though.

"Sari."

She jumped, startled by Prowl's voice. She looked down at his face. His optics were still out but he wasn't in sleep mode. "Don't worry about it," he said. "I'll be fine."

"Promise?"

He smiled. "Promise."

"Come on," Buzz said, coming up behind her and putting his hands on her arms. "You'd better move so you don't get electrocuted."  
The girl allowed the space ranger to lead her away, her eyes focused on the cyber ninja the whole time. She stood next to Mira and Booster who had given her some space. Booster put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry," he said when she looked up at him. "The LGMs know what they're doing. He'll be fine."

"I hope so," she said looking back at the recharge bed.

"Okay," the LGM at the computer said. "Here we go." he pressed the "send" button and a second later Prowl's entire body lit up as the energy was transferred into his body.

_A/N_

_Okay this chapter is kind of long so I'll stop here. XD _


	8. Chapter 8

**You might have thought the whole crystal thing was pointless but it's actually going to be important later on. **

CHAP 8

Zurg freaked and spun around to run away. "Ah, stay away from me, you insane machine!" he shouted, shoving Warp out of the way and dashing back toward his throne.

Warp, who had already been bitten by the femme once and didn't want a repeat of the incident, ran to catch up with him. "Hey," he shouted. "Wait for me!"

Behind him he heard the female energy vampire laughing wickedly as she activated the thrusters in her feet and shot into the air. She flew after them, her processor already coming up with ways to punish them. "This is payback for shooting me in the back and calling me useless, you wannabes!"

Warp looked up and saw her flying toward him. He screamed like a little girl and ran to catch up with his boss. Both reached the throne chair at the same time and, after much climbing over each other to get there first, hid behind it.

Zurg chanced a peek. The femme seemed to be occupied at the moment by two Grubs that had come into the room. She roared at them and swooped down. The poor Grubs freaked out and dashed out of the room, the door slamming shut behind them.

"Why did you bring that thing in here?" Zurg demanded, turning around and glaring down at Warp.

"Hey, I thought you might want to get a look at her," Darkmatter replied sheepishly. "You told me to come back with a vampire or don't come back at all, so I got you a vampire."

"I didn't mean just grab any old robot vampire!" the evil emperor shouted. "I wanted Nos-4-A2 so I could punish him for trying to overthrow me, you dimwit!" he gestured toward the fembot vampire. "What am I supposed to do with her?"

"Well why didn't you say so in the first place?"

"I don't know," spoke up the vampire femme's voice before Zurg could reply. "Maybe it just slipped his weak little mind." The men looked up. Shadowstar hovered over the throne, her hands on her hips. "But now that you have me, what _do_ you intend to do with me?"

"This was all a big misunderstanding," Zurg told her, nervously. "You see; I sent Warp Darkmatter here to capture _another_ energy vampire. I never asked him to bring _you_ in."

"Oh I already knew that," she told him, looking highly annoyed. "But he did and now you're going to have to face the consequences." her grin widened. "I hope you like pain, you freaks." she changed position in the air and dived down at them. "Because I love to dish it out!"

Zurg's fight or flight mechanism went into flight. He shoved Warp aside. "Out of my way!" he commanded. When Warp didn't move fast enough Zurg jumped over him and landed on the floor then took off across the room. Shadowstar went right after him, laughing like a lunatic. She hadn't had this much fun in vorns.

* * *

The recharge sure was taking a long time to complete, Sari thought to herself. She was beginning to worry. What was taking it so long? She was about to say something when the light encircling Prowl faded and went out. The LGMs at the computer turned to her and Buzz and his team. "Recharge complete," he said.

Instantly Sari was over by the bed. She leaned over it. "Prowl?"

His optics flickered then lit up. He looked at her and smiled. "I told you you didn't have anything to worry about."

Relief filled her and she hugged him. "I'm so glad they didn't fry your brain," she said. "Or any other part of you for that matter."

"Hey," the one LGM said, sounding offended.

"I'm kidding," she told him, looking up at the little alien.

"So, how are you feeling?" Buzz asked, walking over to the bed.

"I feel normal," Prowl replied, rubbing his head as he looked up at the human space ranger. "Maybe your crystals _are_ similar to energon after all."

"Can I ask you something?" Lightyear questioned, when Prowl nodded he said. "Why were you built so only certain types of energy work on you? I mean; that seems a little inconvenient."

"I don't know," Prowl told him. He actually never really thought about it before. "Maybe it's because I wasn't built by humans and was given a spark and for the spark to work it needs to run on certain kinds of power."

"Wait, what's a spark?" Booster wanted to know.

"I'll tell you about it later," Prowl said, sitting up and draping his legs over the side of the bed. "Right now I think we should be heading back to Trade World."

Much as Sari wanted to find the fembot vampire and get back home she was more worried about Prowl. "But, Prowl, shouldn't you be taking it easy?" she asked. "I mean you just recharged yourself using some weird kind of energy. Maybe we should wait a bit until you're sure you're all right. Besides; what if there is some kind of weird side effect or something?"

"He's fine," XR spoke up before Prowl could reply. He wheeled over to her and grabbed the cable out of Prowl's chest. "It's just a simple recharge. It's not going to hurt him. Here, let me show you." Then, before anyone could stop him, he shoved the cable into his own chest compartment. "See?"

Instantly his frame lit up like a Christmas light. Sparks shot out of his hands, arms, and legs. Then he blew up. Everyone shielded their heads to deflect flying debris. XR's head landed at Sari's feet. "Okay, so maybe that was a bad idea," he said, more annoyed with the fact that he'd blow up again then his point being unproven.

Sari, freaked out by the explosion of the smaller robot, looked at Prowl, her eyes as big a saucers. "That's it!" she stated. "We're going to wait!"

"Now there's no need to lose our heads about this," Buzz spoke up. "XR does stuff like that all the time. The only reason he blew up from the energy is because he was already at full power."

"And now all he is is a head!" Sari shot back, turning to face him. "Maybe exploding robot body parts is normal for you guys but I don't want one of my best friends ending up the same way because he decided to be all macho and go vampire hunting before he should."

"Sari," Prowl said, putting a hand on her arm. "It's all right. I'm fine. If the energy was going to blow me up it would have done so already."

"But what if it's only taking longer because your power levels were low?" Sari asked him. "What if you don't explode now but it happens later!" she looked at the LGMS. "If he blows up I'm blaming you guys and Lighthead here for it." she pointed in their faces. "If you guys sabotaged this just so you can take Prowl apart to see how he works you're going to be in big trouble! Prowl's not going to become an experiment for creepy little, three eyed freaks!"

"Now hold on right there!" Buzz cut her off.

"As for you!" the girl said, rounding on him. "This whole thing was your idea! You should have known better than to suggest such a thing if it was so dangerous."

"Hey," Buzz tried to protest. "You heard the man, he says he's fine."

Sari gestured to XR. "Well your little friend isn't!" she rounded on Prowl. "I want to to scan your systems and make sure nothing weird is going on with you."

The cyber ninja didn't protest. He just nodded. It would be best if he just did what she wanted. There was no use upsetting the girl further. She was stressed out enough so as it was.

While he did that Sari glared at each of Lightyear's team in turn. She seemed to be blaming all of them for something that did not happen. Meanwhile the LGMs scurried around to get all of XR's parts so they could put him back together... again.

"Look," Buzz said, giving her a hard look. "If your friend had gotten something back from the crystals he would have felt it by now. Crystalic overload does not take long to affect a machine and, as you can see, the Autobot is in fine working order so there is no reason for your little temper tantrum."

"How would you know that?" she shot back, putting her hands on her hips. "If it had never been done before."

"You will just have to trust me."

Sari laughed. "Trust you?" she asked. She looked disgusted at the very idea. "When the very thing I did trust you with just blew that robot up?!"

"I'm fine, thank you," XR said as the LGMs reassembled him. "No harm done."

She looked back at him, seemingly surprised that he looked so happy. "What are you smiling about?"

"As I said," Buzz told her, folding his arms. "XR blows up on a regular basis. He might not like it but it hasn't caused any harmful effects on him. He's even been put under control by an energy vampire and he's still normal. Even if Prowl did explode, which I doubt," he added when she looked back at him. "I don't think it will cause any affects that will ruin his processor."

"That's where you're _wrong_," she told him. "Transformers aren't like normal robots." tears started budding in her eyes. "They're _living _machines. They have feelings and a soul. If he overloaded and blew up-" she could not finish her sentence. "I'm sorry," she said, turning away. "I can't deal with this right now. I have to be alone."

Then she dashed toward the door and ran into the hall before anyone could say or do anything to stop her.

"I'll go talk to her," Mira said, starting toward the door.

"I don't think that would be a good idea right now," Buzz said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Let's give her a few minutes. She can't go far anyway."

* * *

Like Buzz predicted, Sari didn't go far. She ran down the hall a bit until she found a bench then sat down on it. She felt bad for running out like that but she needed to think some things through and something was bothering her. Her attitude.

She thought about the incident in the repair bay. _Things were just starting to go okay, _she thought. _I was beginning to feel better about those guys and then this happens and proves me wrong. They don't care what happens to us. They don't even care if we get back home alive. _She shook her head and sighed. "Of course not. We had a rough start and made a bad first impression. I can't seem to get along with Mr. Lightyear or that XR robot. But can they blame me? I fall through a portal and right into a different world, then get accused of working for somebody I don't know a thing about, and get blamed for releasing an energy vampire I also didn't know existed." she slammed her fist on the seat. "That would make _anyone_ testy. Maybe if we had met on different circumstances I wouldn't feel this way about them." she sighed and closed her eyes. "But now I think they will just be happy to get rid of us, especially me. I can't say I blame them, with the way I've been acting. But they won't be getting rid of us if they kill Prowl, even if its accidental. Maybe that Lightyear guy is right. Maybe the energy won't hurt Prowl. He _is _built differently than XR is. Just because it hurt the shrimp doesn't mean it will hurt an awesome transformer like himself."

She lifted her head and looked back toward the room. "Maybe I just overreacted." she stood. "I don't want to make things worse than they already are. I should go back and apologize." she started walking. "After all. If Prowl can hold no ill feelings toward them I shouldn't either. If he was in my place I know he would say he's sorry." she sighed again. "I should start taking manners lessons from him. It might do me some good."

* * *

"Where are you going, freak? I haven't even started yet!"

Zurg looked over his shoulder. Shadowstar was gliding just over his head, her hands on her hips and her face lit up with wicked glee. "Get away from me!" he shouted.

The Decepticon energy vampire had no intention of doing so. "Better do something," she told him. "Otherwise I'm going to get bored and believe me you don't want to see me when I'm bored."

Meanwhile Warp had climbed down from the throne and was running to catch up with her. Even if he did not like Zurg very much he was still his boss and signed his paycheck. If he did not help him he'd be out of work for good. So he let his arm transform into a gun and he aimed it at her.

The fembot must have sensed him because she turned around. "Now now, none of that," she said.

Then something funny happened to his right arm. It returned to its normal state and started moving against his will. He stared at it in confusion. "What in the-Ow!" the hand closed into a fist and began to punch him in the face. "Ow! Stop it!"

She laughed. _That should keep blue face there busy. _she turned back to Zurg who, by then, had managed to put a good amount of distance between them.

"Oh no, you don't."

She added more power to her thrusters and began to gain on him. He reached one of the shelves on the wall and seemed to be grabbing at something. Desperately. Which told her he was looking for a weapon.

"Looking for something?"

"Ah!" he spun around but kept one hand behind his back. She noticed. "What have you got there?" she asked him.

"Oh nothing," he said, waving a hand in front of himself. "Nothing at all. Just a little-" and now he moved his hand out from behind his back and toward her. In it he held a giant gun. "Firepower!" he fired.

She saw it coming and quickly dodged out of the way. The blast went past her and hit the wall, breaking one of the screens. He ignored this because it wasn't a big deal and ran after her, firing shot after shot as she swerved to avoid being hit.

"Hahaha!" he cackled, shooting in a rapid fire motion, "That's right, you freak, run! Run from the power of Evil Emperor Zurg!"

_Sparks! _She growled, circling over his head as he fired. His aim was always hitting the spot where she had been only seconds before so she knew he was most likely a dead shot. _How am I going to get close to him? _she wondered then noticed Warp Darkmatter still having a fight with his own arm.

That gave her an idea.

Banking, she transformed into vehicle mode and shot straight toward him. Warp, alerted by the screams of her engines, looked up just as she transformed back into standard mode and reached down, grabbing his arm and shooting back into the air. She twisted around and flew toward Zurg who was still trying to send her crashing to the floor.

While Darkmatter struggled to free himself, Shadowstar shot toward the evil emperor, her optics dimmed and her face determined. She stayed in a rather straight flight path, though she did have to do some dodging to avoid being hit by plasma. She continued on this course until she was barely twenty feet away. She then turned, dived down at the purple clad being, and then shot into the air, letting go of her cargo as she did so. She went up and Darkmatter went down, straight toward his trigger happy boss.

Zurg's eyes widened as Warp came flying toward him. "Oh no!" he exclaimed seconds before the man slammed into him, knocking him to the floor.

Unfortunately he did not lose his gun like she'd wanted him to but right now he was too distracted in getting Warp off of him that he couldn't shoot at the femme who took advantage of this to fly over to the shelf where he had been standing and examine his personal arsenal. _All I have to do is find one that I can hold that won't cause a lot of recoil. _she picked up one, a gun bigger than Zurg's blaster. "Okay maybe not that one."

"Get off of me!" Zurg shouted, thumping Warp over the head with his gun. The man happily obliged. Zurg stood up and whirled around, spotting Shadowstar reaching for something on the shelf. "I wouldn't do that if I was you."

She jumped and spun around. Zurg had his gun aimed at her face. "Step away from the weapons," he ordered. "Or I will be forced to shoot you. Not that I wouldn't mind shooting you but I wouldn't want to ruin my precious arsenal. Plasma rifles don't come cheap, you know."

"You mean one of these?" she asked, grabbing up one of his guns and aiming it at him.

Startled, he put up his hands, instantly forgetting that he had a gun of his own. "Now don't do anything stupid!" he said, nervously. "We wouldn't want to cause extensive damage. Besides that one tends to get stuck if you don't pull the trigger properly and I don't think you'd want it to jam up on you.."

"Oh you don't have anything to worry about," she told him, her face lit up by a wicked grin. "The only thing I intend on damaging is you!" then she fired.

Zurg shrieked and jumped out of the way. The energy bolt hit the floor, blasting a huge hole in it. The evil emperor took one look at the hole and once again took off running.

* * *

When Prowl was finished doing his internal scan he came out of stand by and immediately noticed that Sari was no longer in the room. "Where is Sari?" he asked, looking over at Lightyear.

"She ran out," Buzz replied.

That told the cyber ninja right away that something bad went down after he'd blinked out. "What happened?" he demanded.

"Now don't get upset, Prowl," Buzz said, putting up his hand. "Your girlfriend just went to be by herself for a bit. She'll be back."

Prowl was so worried about Sari that he didn't bother correcting the space ranger. "By herself? Here?" he looked horrified. "But she doesn't even know her way around this place!"

"She didn't go far," Mira said, pulling her head out of the door which she'd ghosted through. "She just sat down on a bench in the hall. She's on her way back now."

"How do you do that?" Prowl asked, staring at her with interest.

"What? Going through walls?" she asked. When he nodded she laughed quietly. "That's called ghosting. It's one of the abilities us Tangeans are born with."

He cocked his head. "One of them?"

"Well there is the mind reading thing you saw me do to your friend," she explained, moving her hands around. "I can reach inside people's heads and read the thoughts in their brains and stuff. Don't worry it doesn't hurt or anything, at least I don't think it hurts." now she looked unsure. "I mean it can hurt if I chose to make it but it's not like I would do that on purpose-"

The door opened, cutting off the rest of her rambling. Mira looked over her shoulder and saw Sari behind her with a strange look on her face. "Oh well hi," the Tangean said, smiling. "How are you feeling now?"

"Okay, I guess," the girl said, looking away and rubbing her arm. "Can I say something to you guys?"

"Oh sure," Mira said, nodding. "You can say whatever you want. Well, maybe not _whatever _you want. Some of the stuff you've been saying was kind of mean and it would have been better if you hadn't said it so..."

"What is it?" Buzz asked stepping forward before Mira got off topic.

"Well," she looked like she was having a hard time saying it. "I uh.."

"Come on, let it all out."

"I'm sorry," she said.

Team Lightyear looked at her, startled. She looked from one ranger to another. "I'm sorry for being so rude," she told them. "I know you're all just trying to help us but well you see.. we kind of got off on the wrong foot. You guys thought we were bad guys and so I thought you guys were a bunch of jerks and, uh, I couldn't exactly forgive you as easily as Prowl could and well." she looked away. "I over reacted a little. I'm just a little stressed."

"A _little_," XR snorted.

Sari ignored him. "So anyway I really shouldn't have acted the way I did since you weren't trying to hurt Prowl or anything or me for that matter, you were just doing your job and so umm." she put her hands behind her back and closed her eyes. "I am very sorry and I hope you can forgive me."

"Of course we can," Booster said, walking over to her. He pulled her into a big hug. "I knew you didn't mean it."

"Too tight," Sari gasped, her eyes bugging out. "Can't breath!"

"Oh," he said, realizing he was crushing her. He set her down. "Sorry about that."

Buzz came over to her. She looked up at him. "So, are you finally convinced that we aren't trying to kill your robot friend or make you life miserable?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said, not exactly meeting his eyes. "I should have figured that out sooner."

Lightyear smiled. "Then you are forgiven," he said, putting his hand on her shoulder.

Her face softened in relief. "Yeah and sorry for calling you Lighthead," she added.

His smile faltered for a moment then went back to normal. "Just don't do that again," he said, patting her shoulder. Before she could make another comment Buzz turned to the others. "Okay team," he said. "Let's get moving."

"Yes sir," the other said, giving him a salute.

"Move!"

The other three space rangers rushed out of the room.

Prowl got up, his optics focused on Buzz. "Where are they going?" he asked.

Buzz turned to him. "They're going to prep _42_," he told them. "You know. Get it ready for when we leave for Trade World."

"Now?" he asked.

Buzz nodded. "Now."

* * *

Shadowstar was getting bored. While chasing this Zurg character was fun it was also repetitive. He wasn't doing anything different. All he did was run and that Dark Matter character wasn't any better. He couldn't stay conscious long enough for her to enjoy it. She almost wished something else would happen just to make things more interesting.

Well whether she wished for it or not something different _did_ happen. One way or another the evil emperor tripped and went sprawling on the floor. While he tried to get up she came down and loomed over him. "Looks like the game is over," she said.

He looked up at her with buggy eyes. Her face as hidden by shadow so all he could see were her glowing red optics "Now wait a minute," he said, putting up his hands. "Can't we talk about this?"

"No," she said. "If I wanted to talk I would have a phone." she lifted the gun and aimed it at his face. "What I want is for you to shut your big toothed mouth and take your medicine." she shoved the gun right into his face. "You are boring me. Boring creatures annoy me and make me angry. They don't deserve to live." her finger rested on the trigger. "Good bye."

She fired.

_A/N_

_Yes it does seem a bit rushed but I don't want to drag things out. _


	9. Chapter 9

CHAP 9

_An hour later. (Star Command Time)_

"Okay, before we head out I think you need a suit," Mira said, leading Sari into the locker room on _42_. She opened a locker and stared at the suit inside. "Buzz told me it would be a good idea, in case we run into more than just the energy vampire you guys brought with you. You're kind of small but do you think you would be able to fit into a medium?"

"Why does Buzz think I need a suit?" Sari asked, her hands on her hips. "Besides the reasons you just gave me."

"Well," Mira said, turning to her. She pointed."You can't exactly go against as threat dressed like that."

Sari looked down at her yellow and orange mini-dress. "What's wrong with it?" she asked. "I wore it before when I fought Shadowstar."

"Yeah," Mira said. "But you're not in your universe anymore and there are more than energy vampires to worry about in Trade World. Plus like I said, they're not the only problem we might have to deal with. There are dangerous creatures there that would love to take advantage of a girl not properly dressed."

"Oh ew," Sari said, making a grossed out face.

"See? That's why you need a uniform." Mira took out the suit and held it up to her. "This might to a little too big."

Sari stared at it then folded her arms. "I am _not_ wearing that," she stated. "It's ugly."

"Oh come on it's not like it's permanent," the Tangena said. "Well it _could_ be permanent if you decide to become a space ranger but otherwise it's only for while you're here and Commander Nebula and Buzz said you should so I think you should to keep us from getting in trouble."

Sari shook her head. "I'll pass," she stated. "I don't look good in white."

"I know the suits aren't in high fashion," Mira told her. "But they're durable and they hold up well under extreme temperatures."

"Plus they leave room for the imagination," XR cut in wheeling into the room.

The two females looked down at him. "XR, who let you in here?" Mira demanded, putting a hand on her hip.

"I let myself in," the little robot replied, smirking.

"and why did you do that?" Mira demanded.

"I bet I know," Sari said, glaring at the little robot. "Because Panty Peeping Louie here thought he could get a look at somebodies underpants while she put on the suit."

"Well that's where you're _wrong_," XR said to her. "I didn't come in here in hopes of seeing anything of the sort." he turned away from her and headed toward the lockers. "You have such a dirty mind, young lady. You better get help for that."

"_I'm_ not the one who thought it was okay to look up somebodies dress," Sari shot back.

"Forget about him," Mira said, getting Sari's attention back. She held up the suit. "Put this on."

"No," Sari said, folding her arms. "For two reasons. One: it's ugly and two: little pervy bot is still in the room and he's sneaking glances over here."

Mira glared at him. "Do you mind?" she snapped.

"Oh sorry," XR grinned sheepishly then rolled out of the room.

"Now," Mira said when the robot was gone. "Put this on."

"I'm still not wearing it," Sari said, folding her arms and making a stubborn face.

"Oh come on, we can't leave until you're ready to go," the female space ranger told her. "Which means you have to wear the suit."

"I didn't see Buzz trying to force Prowl to wear one of those things," Sari muttered. "So why should I have to wear one?"

"Prowl doesn't need one. He's a robot."

"Well _your _robot has something on that looks like the suit."

"That's just how his body was designed," Mira told her. "You on the other hand aren't a robot so therefore you have to wear this outfit."

"How would you know that?" Sari grumbled. "I _could _be a robot."

Mira laughed. "Sure you are," she said. "and I'm the queen of Capital Planet." she turned away from Sari and put the suit back. "I think we might have a smaller on in here." she turned back to Sari. "Are you a size four? Because-" she gasped when she saw the girl. She looked different, though she had not changed position. She now wore some kind of battle armor and helmet. The outfit was the same color as her dress except for a few blue parts, like the wings sticking out of her back. "Where did that come from?"

"Oh this?" Sari said in a strange robotic voice as she looked at herself. She made an innocent face. "I kind of came upon it by accident." she looked at Mira. "Is this good enough?"

"Yeah sure," the Tangean said, backing away from her. "I don't see anything wrong with it." she closed the locker and headed toward the door. "Let's let Buzz know you're ready."

* * *

_This is it! _Zurg thought when the fembot pulled the trigger on the plasma riffle. _All my evil work is going to end before I even rule the galaxy. _He shut his eyes, as if doing so would prevent his demise. _I knew I should have written my will._

He waited, but the incoming plasma bolt never came. _Huh?_

He opened his eyes and stared at the gun. It hadn't fired.

"What is this?" Shadowstar demanded, pulling the trigger again. _Click click. _She raised the gun to her face. "What is wrong with this thing?"

"I told you that one jammed up," Zurg said, grinning goofily.

She growled at him. "Well I don't need a gun to take out a little chicken like you," she stated. "All I need is my teeth."

"Oh you don't want to try that," he said to her as she leaned over him. He put his hands on his chest. "You see; I'm _not _a machine."

She made a face. Something told her he was telling the truth. She wasn't picking up any kind of energy signature from him. Well not much of one. It was there, only very faint which told her whatever cybernetics he had on or in him were minor and had been added later. _Cyborg. Sparks. _"Well maybe I can't take energy from you," she told him. "But I can take energy from your toys." she looked at the gun in her hand for a moment then bit into it, draining out all the energy.

Once it was dead she dropped it at his feet. "Looks like you won't have to worry about it jamming up anymore, " she stated with a smile. "Then again when I'm through with you you won't be worried about anything ever again."

"Ah!" Zurg tried to crawl away from her but she stepped on the edge of his robe and held him still. "Where do you think you're going?" she demanded when he looked over his shoulder at her.

The evil emperor tried to come up with a good excuse.. "I was just uh.." he could not think of anything to say.

"Running away like the cowardly little organic you are?" she finished.

"Well not actually. I just wanted to check on something," he said. That's when he noticed Warp Darkmatter get up. The man looked at him for a moment and their eyes met. Darkmatter smirked then quietly made his way across the room toward one of the computer consoles. "You see I have a lot of robots here and I figured you might want to use them for food or something and uh.."

The look on her face told him she didn't believe a word he was saying. "Why would you suddenly want to feed me your robots after I tried to kill you?" she demanded. She kicked him in the face, knocking him over. Before he could get up she grabbed up the gun he'd dropped when he'd tripped over his own robe and put it in his face. "As a mater of fact; why would you want to do anything for me after you called me useless?"

"I uh.. now see that you're not," he said, thinking quickly. "I was going to bring some in as an apology for my lackey bringing you here when uh.. well it was a mistake!"

"A mistake _you're_ going to pay for," she growled. "Thanks to you and you're little trigger happy friend there I lost my one and only chance to take down that legless wannabe!"

_Legless wannabe?_

Suddenly, before Zurg could make a comment or ask her who she was talking about, all the doors leading to the room opened up. Shadowstar lifted her head, her optics instantly focusing on an army of hornet robots crowding the doorways. As soon as the doors opened all the way the robots stepped into the room, raising their arms and shooting plasma bolts at the fembot. She glared down at Zurg. "You did that on purpose!" she shouted.

He grinned, this time evilly. "Of course I did, my dear," he told her. "That's what evil emperor's do."

She shoved the gun into his face. "You're going to regret that!" she growled.

"Ah ah," he said, wagging his finger. "I don't think you should be pointing that thing at me. Especially since you have more important things to worry about."

Just then a bolt of plasma hit her in the leg. She yelped in pain and took her attention away from Zurg. Taking advantage of her distraction, he kicked her in the stomach, knocking her away from him. She fell back, off balance, but managed to regain it before falling over.

Zurg picked up his gun, which she had dropped when he'd hit her. He aimed it at her. "Now this is the way I like it." he looked at the hornets which had stopped firing when he was once again armed. "Shoot her but don't terminate!"

The hornets with their simple A.I's obeyed instantly, once again raising their arms and shooting at her.

She hissed at them then activated her thrusters and shot into the air. They lifted their arms and followed her flight path. She wasn't going to get away that easily.

* * *

"So what does this ship run on?" Prowl asked as Buzz ran a diagnostics on the ship's engines. Thought it had just been run recently it didn't hurt to make sure nothing had happened since then.

"Crystalic fusion," the space ranger said, looking at him.

"Hmm that almost sounds like the same type of fuel cybertronian ships work with."

"What do cybertronian ships work on?"

"Energon."

"Just like you?" Lightyear prompted.

"Not exactly," the cyber ninja said, looking at the control panel. "The energon used for ships and the energon used by transformers is a little different. Pure energon is consumed by beings like me while the tainted energon is used to power ships because it's poisonous to us."

"But aren't the ships transformers as well?"

"No," Prowl replied, folding his arms and looking like he was deep in thought. "They're not. Ships are mindless forms of transportation. They don't have sparks or an A.I."

"So they're just dumb machines then?"

Prowl wasn't sure he wanted to call Cybertronian ships dumb. "Well they're different than transformers."

"Oh.. I see." Buzz was silent for a moment then he asked. "You were taller in your own dimension, weren't you?"

Prowl looked at him, startled. "How could you tell?" he asked.

Buzz started to reply but was interrupted by Mira. "Hey, Buzz I think we can go now."

"Good," the space ranger said, turning around in his chair. "Did you give the girl a-" he stopped, his eyes bugging out in surprise. "Uh what is that?"

Prowl turned around. His mouth dropped open when he saw what Sari was wearing. Her battle armor. She looked at him. "What?" she asked in her robotic voice.

"Sari!" he exclaimed, gaping at her. "I told you not to-" she glared at him, shutting him up before he gave her secret away. A secret he didn't want out. He noticed the space rangers looking at him so he changed the subject. "Nice suit. Where did you get it?"

"Oh I found it in the locker room," Sari said, innocently. She put her hands on her helmet and took it off. She grinned at Prowl. "and it's even in my colors too."

Buzz got up and walked toward her. "Hmm," he said, looking at it, his hand on his chin. "I don't remember ever seeing a suit issued that looked like that."

"Maybe it's a prototype," Sari said.

Buzz gave her a look that could only be described as suspicious. "It's not in standard issue colors," he said. "Regulations say all uniforms must be green and white."

"Well I'm not painting this," Sari told him, putting her hands on her hips. "Those colors don't look good on me."

"This isn't a fashion shoot, little lady," he told her. "We're going to Trade World to find your energy vampire. The least you could do is at least wear the suit in its proper colors."

"Well your suits suck anyway," she informed him, folding her arms. "and they all look the same too. Haven't you heard of individuality"

"The suits are made that way to-"

Just then the door opened and XR came into the room. "Hey, Mira," he said, rolling forward. "I was wondering-" he jumped when he saw Sari in her battle suit. "Whoa!" he exclaimed, rolling around her to get a better look. "That is one sexy battle suit." he poked her leg. "Hey is that synthetic armor?"

"No," she said, glaring down at him when he tried to lift her skirt. "It's called touch me again like that and I will blow off your stupid face!" she slapped his hand. "Mind keeping your grubby nubs to yourself?"

Something told him she was going to kick his head off again. "Uh, okay sorry," he said, putting up his hands and wheeling away. "No offense intended."

"Anyway," Buzz said, getting back on topic. "I want you to either take that suit off and put on a standard issue space ranger suit or repaint that armor so it's the right colors."

"I won't be doing either," she told him, getting right into his face. "You're not the boss of me and what does it matter what kind of suit I wear anyway? I'm not a space ranger and this armor is just as durable as the ugly prison uniforms you all wear." as she said this she poked Buzz in the chest with a blue finger. "I won't change and you can't make me."

"Young lady," Buzz began, annoyed that she was being so stubborn. "This isn't up for discussion. Just change your suit so we can get going."

"I said-"

That's when Prowl decided to get into the discussion. He walked forward and put his hand on Buzz's shoulder. "Look, it's not a big deal," he told him. "Sari can take care of herself and what she wears shouldn't prevent us from going to capture Shadowstar. The longer we delay going to Trade World the more likely she has drained every machine on the planet."

Buzz turned to him. "I know this," he told him. "But she's not wearing the right suit."

"Why does that even matter?" Prowl asked, folding his arms. He could understand that the space rangers had rules about things including what they wore but Sari wasn't even a space ranger. "No offense to any of you, but if you force Sari to wear the suit she will just take it off every chance she gets and probably drop it into something hot and dangerous. If you want to keep your suits in their proper shapes and uses I would advise against making her wear it."

"Yeah," Sari said. "and don't think I wouldn't."

"Why don't we just let her wear what she has on?" Mira asked him. "I mean it couldn't hurt and nobody has to know."

"Yeah," Booster said, who had been admiring the suit without getting into the discussion. "It looks like it could take a lot of punishment."

Buzz opened his mouth to protest then changed his mind. He slapped his palm against his face and sighed. "Okay fine," he consented. "She can keep it on." there was no sense arguing further. "But if she gets killed don't say I didn't tell you so."

"Don't worry," Sari said, smirking. "I won't."

Buzz sighed and turned away from her. "All right, everyone, let's get going." he said, walking toward his chair. "Energy vampires don't capture themselves you know."

* * *

Shadowstar was in trouble. While she flew around near the ceiling of Zurg's throne room, avoiding hornet fire power she was losing energy at a rapid rate. This bothered her because she had never lost so much energy so quickly before, not even when she fought against Optimus Prime and his crew back in her own dimension. Either so much action after just breaking out of jail was laying a number on her systems or this universe somehow zapped energy from machines at a much faster rate. She hoped it just the first option because if it was the second she was in big trouble.

_I have to get energy soon, _she thought, swerving up and down to avoid hornet firepower. _But I can't feed under stress and I can't get rid of this stress with those stupid inferior machines shooting at me!_ A huge plasma bolt nearly hit her. She moved out of the way to avoid it then looked down to see who had fired it.

Zurg. He was also trying to shoot her with his gun. By the look of childish glee on his face he was having fun doing it. If she had been closer she would have heard him commenting on it saying that "this is more fun than shooting helpless citizens."

But whether she could hear him or not he was still ticking her off. _Stupid purple people eater! _she thought, pausing and hovering in the air for a moment. One of the hornet blasts almost hit her so she transformed into vehicle mode and flew toward them. At least that mode still had active weapons. She let loose a folley of energy blasts, hitting robot after robot.

A whole row exploded. She flew out of the burning wreckage and flew across the room to take out more of them.

Unfortunately for her, she never got to fire at the hornets.

Zurg actually got a lock on her. "Hehehe, you're mine," he cackled before firing.. The plasma bolt crashed into her wing, breaking it off and sending her toward the floor. She transformed into standard mode, hoping it would break her fall but it did little good. She was too late. Just as she turned back into robot mode she slammed into a pile or hornets, which broke her fall but she still hit the floor pretty hard and wound up tangled in the twisted metal of the yellow and black machines. She struggled to free herself from the mess of spare parts and might have succeeded if a giant, three barreled gun haven't gotten shoved into her face.

"I wouldn't advice moving," Zurg said, looking down at her.

She glared up at him. A group or hornets overwhelmed her, slapping on secure restraints and lifting her to her feet so she could look at him face to face. This was the first time she noticed that he was taller than her. "Go ahead," she told him. "Now that you got me shoot me." she sounded like she wanted him to.

He laughed at her. "Oh I'm not going to kill you," he said, moving the gun from her face so the barrel faced the ceiling. "At least not yet. I have some other things in mind for you." he turned to the hornets. "Take her to the dungeon."

Once the hornets had left with the fembot, Warp Darkmatter came up behind the evil emperor. "Why are you letting her live?" he demanded, sounding like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "She tried to kill us."

"I haven't forgotten that," Zurg said, turning to him. "But I think I just came up with a good use for her." he looked toward the door she'd been taken out of and put a finger on his chin. "A very very good use."

* * *

Sari was getting bored. It had been hours since Team Lightyear, Prowl, and herself had left Star Command for their trip back to Trade World. She was getting a little stir crazy and hoped they would get there soon.

As she sat in the only chair left she thought about the instant before they left. Some LGMs had boarded the ship and gave something to Prowl. She didn't know what it was and Prowl didn't want her to see it. All she knew was that it was glowing and let off a strange kind of energy aura. When she asked him about it he did not say a word except to tell her it wasn't important and she didn't need to worry.

_What was it and why did he tell me?_

But she didn't feel like asking him again anyway. Not after the lecture he'd given her about what she did with her battle suit. She didn't understand why he was so angry. Would it really hurt if they knew she was a robot? He seemed to think it would and she didn't want to make things worse for him. He was under enough stress already. She was still worried that that crystal energy might make him explode so she wanted to avoid giving him a lot of anxiety.

At the moment the cyber ninja wasn't in the room. He'd gone to familiarize himself with the ship. XR had gone with him but only because Buzz had ordered him to, not because he enjoyed giving tours of the ship, especially to robots he was jealous of. Sari hoped the little robot wasn't acting like a jerk toward Prowl like he had been earlier.

* * *

"And this is the brig," XR said winding up the tour. He sounded bored, which he honestly was. The tour had been Buzz's idea so Prowl would know where everything was. "If you have any questions feel free to ask them now."

Prowl didn't. Instead he looked into the brig without commenting. It still looked the same as when it did when he and Sari had been put in there. It made him uncomfortable. But his mind was actually on something else at the moment. Buzz's comment from earlier. _How did he know that about me?_

"You're not going to go back in, know you," XR said putting his hands on his hips.

"Oh?" Prowl looked down at him. "I'm sorry. I was thinking about something."

"Oh. Mind if I ask what?"

"You wouldn't understand," the cyber ninja said, looking away.

"Why do you say that?" the little robot wanted to know. "We're both machines here. You can tell me. I'll keep a secret. Is it about that girl? Do you have a crush on her?"

"Sari?" Prowl said, looking startled. "Of course not. She's way too young for me."

"Sure she is," the robot said, giving him a look. "Just how old are you, if I might ask?"

He didn't even hesitate. "Over ten million years," the cyber ninja replied.

XR's optics nearly fell off his face. "Ten million years?!" he exclaimed. "Are you serious?"

Prowl nodded.

"Oh sure," XR said, waving it off. "Come on, be honest. How old are you for real?"

"Over ten million years," he insisted.

"Right, just keep it up," XR said, folding his arms. He looked annoyed. "and I bet you rode the dinosaurs too and shook hands with cavemen."

"No," Prowl told him, sounding offended. "I didn't come to Earth until fifty three years ago."

"What is with you and big numbers?" the little robot demanded. "Are you trying to impress me or something? But then again you being an advanced machine that's older than dirt isn't very impressive."

"Why not?"

"Because you can't be ten million years old and be more advanced in technology than what we are now!" XR insisted. "It goes against all forms of logic and common sense. It also makes you out to be an old man."

Prowl put his hands on his hips and gave the smaller robot a look. "You know, you remind me of a certain little smart mouthed Autobot I'm team mates with," the cyber ninja stated. "He doesn't know when to keep his rude comments to himself either. Only he is almost as old as I am and wouldn't call me old unless he wanted a foot in his chassis."

XR stared at him, surprised that this level headed robot was actually ticked off about something. _He must be real touche about his age. _"Whoa!" he said, backing away. "Keep you hands, feet, and other parts to yourself. This robot is too valuable for you to be kicking around."

"Funny," Prowl said, stepping closer to him. "Nobody _else_ seems to think that way about you."

"I'm just under appreciated," XR told him. "They don't know what they're doing."

"Hmm.." Prowl made a face then turned away from him. _What exactly is your problem with me? _he was tempted to ask but didn't. It wouldn't do any good to question the smaller robot about his feelings. If he didn't like him he didn't like him. The cyber ninja knew he probably wouldn't ever change his mind so he didn't bother trying to make him change his mind. Prowl just wished XR wasn't so loud about his opinions. He was tempted to lecture him about his lack of manners.

Instead he merely turned away and said. "We'd better get back to the control room. I'm sure Buzz Lightyear will be wondering why we are taking so long."

"I bet that's not _all_ he's wondering," XR mumbled, folding his arms and making a face.

Prowl ignored that statement and headed back to the control room without another word.

* * *

Nos-4-A2 woke from a long recharge, feeling worse than when he went to sleep. "I knew I should have fixed that damage before recharging," he groaned, climbing painfully out of the coffin. His hand slipped and he crashed to the floor.

Growling in annoyance he activated his wings and used them to get up. He then hovered for a moment, looking at the robot shells littering the floor. Thanks to that rotten femme he would have to replace a few pieces of his inner workings as well as a few outer things as well, like part of his arm where she's taken off the silver armor. She'd also managed to damage the part that allowed him to defy gravity which meant he would have to use his wings until he found a replacement part. Hopefully one of these junk heaps had the part he needed.

He flew from one robot to another but none of them had any anti-gravity hardware.

_Craters. _This meant he would have to go out and find a robot that did.

_But before I do that, _he thought sitting down on the lid of his coffin which he'd closed. _I'm going to repair the rest of the damage I sustained from fighting that wench. _ He studied the puncture wounds on the arm that still had its armor. _This could take awhile. _

_A/N_

_Oh looks Nos did appear. Even if it's just at the end. Don't worry. He'll have more of a role in the next chapter. And the fun continues. _


	10. Chapter 10

CHAP 10

_Six hours later_

Sari looked out the windshield of _42 _at the planet before them. "What planet is that?" she asked. "Is that it?"

"Yes, it's Trade World," Buzz said, turning to look at her.

The girl stared at the planet for a moment, letting his words sink in. "It sure looks different from up here," she commented. "Less crowded looking and not so smelly."

"Well we're in space," Buzz told her. "So from up here, it looks peaceful."

"I know that," she said to him. She returned her attention to the planet. "I wonder why the space bridge sent us there in the first place? I mean your universe has many planets, so why was that one singled out?"

"I don't know," he responded. "But a lot of things happen on Trade World. Maybe because of all the neon lights and robotic energy, it kind of caused a kind of magnetic attraction."

Sari didn't respond to that. She merely nodded. If he was expecting her to confirm that he was sadly disappointed. His theory might be right and it might not be. "If that's true maybe we could try to put a space bridge there."

"That won't be a good idea," Buzz told her.

"Why not?"

"I can answer that," Prowl said, standing beside her. He took the pose he always did when he was explaining complicated things. One arm at his side and his left hand touching his chin. "From the information I gathered; Trade World is full of shady characters," he explained. "If a space bridge were to be constructed there it would cause too many problems because wanted criminals would use it to warp out of the universe and wind up in other dimensions that would not be able to handle them."

"Exactly," Buzz said, nodding, though he also looked a bit surprised that the Autobot knew that.

Sari looked at Prowl. "How did you figure that out?" she asked him.

The cyber ninja looked at her and said simply. "Research."

"Oh," she said turned away and headed back to her seat. There she sat down and folded her arms. Leave it to Prowl to gather information even in a universe he didn't belong in. Well better to be safe than sorry. There was no law that said visitors couldn't gain information about other places."I should do some research too. It wouldn't hurt for me to familiarize myself with the ship too and all of its... advantages."

She looked around and spotted the control panel on the wall that had buttons on it. She remembered XR had been fooling around with it during the trip. She wasn't sure what it was for but it seemed important. _Maybe it has some information on it, _she thought, getting up and walking over to it. _I wonder what kind.._

She paused and looked at Prowl and the space rangers in the room. Nobody was paying any attention to her. Good. She turned back to the board and reached out her hand. Her fingers turned into wires and she ran her hands quickly over the keyboard. As she did so images flashed through her mind.

_Cool!_

She typed a few more things, gaining more and more information as she did so. _Wow! These guys sure have gone through a lot. Space worms? Wow, never thought I'd see that. _

She was so distracted by what she was doing that she didn't hear XR come up behind her. He folded his arms and glared at her back, offended that she was poking around what he considered his personal space. Only he could talk with the ship so why was she poking around with the control panel? He almost said something then noticed her fingers. They didn't look right. In fact they didn't look organic at all. _What in the name of Pluto?!_

A nagging feeling at the back of her neck made Sari pause. Somebody was behind her. She looked over her shoulder. XR was staring at her with his mouth hanging open. "What are you staring at, shrimp?' she demanded.

He recovered quickly. "Just what do you think you're doing?" he demanded.

"Nothing," she said, turning around, with her hands behind her back. "What would I be doing?"

"I don't know," he said, rolling over to her. He tried to peek at her hands, poking his head from one side of her to the other. "Maybe hacking into the ship's mainframe."

"Don't be silly," she said. "Why would I want to do that?"

"I don't know," he said, folding his arms. "Why would your fingers look so funny?"

She made an innocent face. "My fingers?"

"Yeah, your fingers." he wiggled his own in front of her face then pointed at her. "Those wiry little fingers. All right. Let's see them."

Rolling her eyes, the girl moved her hands in front of her so he could look at them. Her fingers had returned to normal. "They look fine to me," she said.

"Hmm," he put his hand on the dome covering his head and studied her hands. They looked normal and he wasn't picking up any energy signatures from her. "They look normal."

"See?" she said. "You were seeing things."

XR wasn't willing to admit that. "I know I saw wires coming out of your fingers," he said, giving her a suspicious look. "I'm going to be watching you."

She folded her arms. "Go right ahead," she challenged. "But you won't be seeing anything."

* * *

Shadowstar kicked at the bars in her cell, in a vain attempt to break them out. She was barely even denting them and was only succeeding in using up her energy. She rested, glaring at the stubborn bars and cursing her rotten luck. Things had been going bad for her since she'd gotten her lunch stolen by that stupid energy vampire. Oh yes, it was his fault. If he hadn't taken her food she never would have gotten into this mess.

_Stupid thieving wannabe, _she seethed. _When I get my hands on him he'll wish he'd never been activated. _She got up and kicked at the bars again. "But first I have to get out of this Pit forsaken cell!"

She began to beat against the bars again, sending hit after rage filled hit into the metal. Still nothing was happening. The dents she had managed to sustain got no bigger and those dents seemed to be mocking her.

After a moment she sighed and sat down on the cot. "Blasted bars."

"Give it up, sweet cheeks." a voice said startling her. She looked up. That purple thing from before came toward her. He pointed at the bars. "These bars are made from reinforced steel. They can't be broken."

_He sounds like he's bragging about it. _"Oh yeah?" she challenged, getting up and stomping toward the bars. "How about I kick them out just to prove how stupid you sound?"

He laughed at her which only infuriated her further. "If you could do that you already would have," he mocked. "Forget about it, my dear. You're not getting out of there until I say so."

That was the wrong thing to say. She angrily reached through the bars and grabbed the collar of his cape. She yanked him forward until they were face to face. "I think you should say so now," she growled.

"Now now," he said, beating her hands off. "None of that. You wouldn't want me to punish you, now would you?"

She glared at him, disgusted that he was using her own lines against her. "If there is anyone who is going to punish anybody it'll be _me_," she informed him.

"I am afraid not," he said. He put his hands on his chest. "You see: I'm on the outside of the cell and you are on the inside." he leaned toward her. "Do you know what that means?"

"It means we should switch places," she responded.

"I think not."

She opened her mouth to make a come back then changed her mind. Instead she crossed her arms over her chest and said. "I'm not going to play this foolish game anymore. It's obvious you came down here for a reason besides to antagonize me further. What do you want?"

"Getting to the heart of the matter are we?" he slapped his hands together. "Okay then. I'll tell you."

"This had better be good," she muttered.

He seemed to think so. "Oh I'm sure you'll jump at the chance to do what I am about to propose."

She merely glared at him, her expression saying "Get to the point."

But Zurg wasn't known to get right to the point of things. Oh, he did get there, but in a round about way.

"You mentioned that you were interrupted when you fought a legless wannabe," he said, putting his hands behind his back and pacing. "Mind telling me who this machine was?"

"I don't know his name," she told him. _You call this getting to the point? _

He looked at her. "So it's a he then?"

"Of course it's a he," she snapped. "If it was a she it wouldn't be alive right now because I would have killed it the moment I laid my optics on it."

"It seems like you have something against your own gender," he observed, putting a hand on his chin. "Why is that?"

"What are you, some kind of psychiatrist?" she demanded. "That really isn't any of your concern."

"Anyway," he said, getting back on topic. "Why don't you tell me about this wannabe you encountered?"

She said nothing. She just glared at him. Why did he want to know about that other vampire so much? "Oh come on," he insisted. "Like it would hurt you to tell me about him."

"Why do you want to know?" she growled. "Why do you even care? After all. You tried to kill me then stuck me in this cell."

He was honest with her. "I am asking because I might know this wannabe," he informed her.

That got her interested. "How would you know this guy?" she wanted to know, leaning toward him.

"Because I might have been responsible for creating him."

That was the wrong thing to say. Her optics flashed green then red as she leaned forward and reached through the bars, once again grabbing the front of his cape, and pulling him toward her until their faces almost touched. "You created that energy stealing thief?!" she screamed, enraged and disgusted. "Why would you do something like that?"

"I don't remember," he said, his eyes getting a weird puppy look to them."Why did your creator create you?"

She could not answer that. She really didn't know. She always figured it was a huge mistake and she never really was intended to be the way she was. But she wasn't going to tell this weirdo that. It wasn't his business. "That does not concern you," she hissed.

Zurg realized they had gotten a bit off topic. He also realized telling her he'd had Nos-4-A2 created was a bad idea. Even if he did pitch his deal to her now she would be unwilling to go along with it. But he wasn't really worried about that because he knew, given more time, she'd change her mind with the right incentive. Right now his biggest worry was getting away from her. She was chocking him!

"Mind letting go of me?" he asked.

She didn't even think about it. "Yes." her expression plainly had murder written on it.

Realizing she really was going to kill him, he freaked. "Ah! Help!" he turned slightly, to look at the person standing behind him. "Get her away from me!"

Warp Darkmatter stepped forward. "My pleasure." he raised his cyborg arm and shot her with the gun.

She took it in the chest and was knocked back, her grip on the evil emperor breaking. She slammed into the back wall of her cell and crumbled to the floor. "Too bad. You know, I was going to let you out," he said to her when she looked up. "But since you're not ready to hear my proposition, you can just stay in here for awhile longer." then he turned and walked away. "I wonder how long you can last without replenishing your energy, miss energy vampire."

"So much for your plan," Warp said as the two headed out of the dungeon. "Now that you told her you're his father she'll never agree to it."

"Oh don't be so quick to jump to conclusions," Zurg told him, waving his hand. "She'll change her mind."

"How?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out." then he laughed.

* * *

Buzz landed _42_ on Trade World a half hour later after he got clearance. "All right, people," he said as they got ready to head out and begin their search. "Let's split into three groups of two. That way we will cover more ground." he turned to the others and named the groups one by one, pointing his finger at each person as he did so. "Mira you go with Booster, Prowl will come with me and Sari is with XR."

Sari and XR looked at each other. "What?!" they exclaimed as one. It was clear neither was happy with his choice.

"Buzz, are you sure that's a good idea?" Mira asked, looking at him. "I usually go with XR and-"

"I don't want to go with pervy bot!" Sari shouted. "He might try to look up my dress or drag me into a strip joint or something just as vulgar."

"What about you?" XR demanded, glaring at her. "You aren't exactly the picture of innocence either!" he looked at Buzz pleadingly. "This is a bad idea. What if she kicks my head off again and it get crushed or something?"

Prowl didn't look too enthralled either. Something told him if they went together it would not end well. "I am not sure that is wise," he told Lightyear. "It's obvious Sari and XR won't do anything except fight if they are forced to go together."

"Thank you, Prowl," Sari said, shooting him a grateful look. She then turned her attention to Buzz. "Listen to Prowl. He's a very wise robot. What he says comes to pass."

"You make me sound like I'm that guy Moses or something," he remarked.

"Naw, Moses parted the Red Sea," she said, giggling at the mental image of the cyber ninja wearing a robe and carrying a staff. "I have yet to see you do something that miraculous. Anyway," Sari went on when she saw the look on his face. "Prowl is usually right about these things."

"Yeah, what she said," XR agreed. "After all; a ten million year old robot can't be wrong all the time."

"Don't tell everyone his age!" Sari shouted, spinning around and kicking off his head.

It landed two yards away. "You see," he said, looking annoyed as he bounced his head around angrily. "This is _exactly_ what I was talking about!"

Booster went to retrieve XR's head. "Maybe you should be a little more sensitive," he suggested as he brought it back to its body.

"_Me_ be a little sensitive?" XR demanded, glaring up at him. "_She's_ the one who keeps kicking off my head! Does she know what that can do to a bot?"

"I guess not." the red alien reached XRs body and reattached the head. "But you could tell her," he suggested, screwing it on.

"Yeah like that will work." the robot grumbled. There was a click and his head went back into place. "That girl is bent on knocking off more than my head."

"Hey, you deserve it," Sari informed him. "Poking your beady peepers where they don't belong."

"You don't have to worry about that anymore, sister," he told her, folding his arms. "You probably wear teddy bears anyway!" .

"What did you say?!" she demanded, kicking his head off again.

"Will you stop that!?" he shouted.

Prowl looked back at Buzz. "You see," he said. "They will kill each other if you keep them together. I know I'm only a visitor here and I'm not telling you how to do your job but it would not be a good idea."

"Let me ask you something," Buzz said, looking over at him.

"Huh?"

"If you did not get along with one of your own partners and your leader made you and that person get together would you do it?"

Prowl didn't have to think about that for long. Out of all the members on his team, Optimus would usually partner him up with Bumblebee. While Prowl didn't exactly hate the younger robot but he did not get along with him most of the time. He knew fighting with the Prime about it wouldn't change his mind about the choice. He would just say he was working with Bumblebee and that was that. "Yes," he replied. "Optimus Prime would partner us up and would say it was to help us learn to get along."

Buzz grinned at him. "Exactly."

"You have _got_ to be kidding me!" Sari exclaimed. "You think pairing me up with Mister underpants fetish here will help us get along?"

"I don't want to see your bear underpants," XR said, when Booster once again reattached his head.

"They're not bears!" she yelled.

He grinned at her. "Prove it!"

"No way!" she protested, doing a stop motion with her arms. "You just want to poke those rotten little google eyes where they don't belong!" she folded her arms and scooted away from him. "If you try to peek at me again I'll do more than kick off your noodle head."

XR rolled over to Buzz. "Come on, Buzz," he said. "You can't be serious about forcing me to partner up with her."

"I am serious," Buzz told him. "Maybe you'll learn to get along."

"Don't count on it," Sari grumbled. "The only thing I'll learn is that your robot friend probably is obsessed with bra sizes too." All the guys stared at her now. "What?" she noticed how they were looking at her. "No, you can't see it!"

"Okay, no more talk about underwear please," Mira said, getting into the discussion. All that talk about bear underpants and perverted robots was making her sick. She looked at one guy then the other, speaking to each in turn. "Prowl and Buzz, why don't you head out first? XR and Sari, you two wait until we're gone and Booster." she walked over to him and grabbed his arm. "You're with me." she started to walk away then turned back to the other two. "XR, keep your mind out of the gutter and Sari please don't give him any ideas. I don't want to meet up with him later and find out he was poking his head in strip clubs."

"Hey," XR said, folding his arms. "That vampire is a girl. She _might_ be there. We have to be thorough"

"What makes you think female vampires work in strip clubs?" Mira and Sari demanded at the same time.

"Nothing," he said. "It just sounds logical."

"No strip clubs!" both girls shouted as one.

He pouted. "You're no fun."

Sari shot Mira a pleading look. "Can we switch partners?" she asked. "Please?"

Mira shook her head. "Sorry, Sari," the Tangean space ranger said, looking helpless. "I can't disobey Buzz's orders. You're stuck with him." she walked away with Booster. "Good luck."

Sari watched the two walk away then sighed. "Rats." she turned to XR, putting her hands on her hips. "All right. We might as well start searching."

* * *

Nos-4-a2 ripped the anti-gravity drive from the stop light robot's body with more than a small amount of glee. He smiled with satisfaction. At last! After of hours of searching, he'd finally found the right one. Now he wouldn't have to strain himself anymore.

Laughing to himself, he activated his wings and headed back to his lair. _Once I install this I won't have to waste so much energy using my wings all the time, _he thought. _Lovely. _

He was about halfway to the lair when his sensors picked up a very familiar energy signature. _Huh? _for a brief moment he thought the fembot vampire had returned but then it came to him that the energy signature wasn't other worldly. It was familiar, but not strange. He knew exactly who it belonged to.

_The Little One. _

He paused in mid-air and scanned the area until he picked up the location it was coming from. Once he had that logged, he went right toward it, resolving to put in the anti-gravity device after he'd had a little fun.

* * *

"Okay," Sari said as she and XR walked down the sidewalk. "Where do you think we should start looking for her? and no strip clubs!" she said before he could suggest it.

"You're no fun," he stated.

"Why would I want to go into a strip club?" she asked, putting her one hand on her hip and touching her chest with the other. "_I'm_ a girl."

"You don't have to go in, ya know."

"And neither do you," she said. "Why are you such a pervert anyway? Was your creator real lonely or something?"

"No," he said. "My _creators_ were not lonely."

Sari raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes," he said. "I was built by the LGMs, _not_ some dirty minded mad scientist."

"Those must have been some lecherous LGMs."

"Forget about my creators," he said. "Let's just keep looking. Why don't you tell me something about her that could help?"

"Well she's an energy vampire."

"I know that," he said. "Is there anything else you can tell me about her?"

Sari had to think about that. She had never really paid much attention to Shadowstar, even when the femme had her kidnapped. "She's black and red and can transform into a jet."

"Oh great another one."

"She doesn't transform very often," Sari said. "She likes to scare everyone with her normal mode. I'm sorry. You would have to ask Prowl to tell you more about her. He's the one she's obsessed with. She wants to drain his energy and make him her-" she snapped her fingers. "I've got it! Let's look for a trail of drained machines. That is sure to lead us to her."

"Or Nos-4-a2."

"Who is this Nos-4-a2?" the girl demanded. "You space rangers keep talking about him but you never really specify what he does or what he looks like."

"That's because Nos-4-a2 is our problem," he informed her, pointing into her face. "The only vampire you and your robot pal need to worry about is the one you so carelessly brought to this dimension through your crazy space bridge."

Sari rolled her eyes. "Let's not bring that up again," she said. "You already know that was an accident and.." her face changed. It looked sad. "I don't feel like talking about."

XR noticed her sudden change of mood. "You want to go home, don't you?" he asked.

"Of course I do," she said, raising her hand and wiping her eyes. "My dad and my friends are there."

"I thought Prowl was your friend."

"He is," she said. "But I have other friends too, you know. They're probably worried about us. What if they think we're dead?" unbidden tears started streaming down her face. "I don't want Dad to have to go through that again. Not after what happened before." she covered her face and wept into her hands though she felt dumb for suddenly breaking out in tears in front of him. But she couldn't help it, she sat down on the pavement and just cried.

XR to his credit didn't make a snide comment. He just watched her, unable to say anything. What could he say to her? A girl who was sad wasn't exactly the best person to argue with, even if she was a brat. So he did the best he could. He wheeled over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him. "I'm sorry," he said.

"Don't be," she said. "It's not your fault."

"I know," he said. "But what you just said now explains your behavior. You miss your father and everyone and just want to go home but you don't know how to tell anyone that so you act like a brat instead."

She glared at him. "Watch it."

"No, hear me out," he said quickly. The robot plowed forward before she had the chance to get angry. "People have different ways they express things. Some of them get depressed about things and act all gloomy. Others tend to cop an attitude to hide how they're really feeling. It's a tough guy thing. You know; telling us how you felt would have been better than acting the way you have."

She sighed. "Maybe you're right," she agreed, standing up. "But its not really any of your business how I was feeling. We have other things to worry about right now, than how I am feeling." she wiped her eyes. "Let's keep moving. We'll never find that freak vampire if I keep breaking down like that."

* * *

Nos-4-2 followed the energy signature until he located the source. XR. The little robot responsible for most of his trouble. Well XR and Tye Parsec, but Tye wasn't there. Just XR and..

_Hello, who is this? _his optics came to rest on the figure the robot was with.

A girl. A girl in an orange and yellow dress. She had red hair pulled back in pigtails and blue eyes. She looked human. But somehow she didn't_ feel _human. He was picking up a strange energy reading coming from her, not unlike the one he'd picked up from the female vampire. _There's more than one?_

No. If this girl was a vampire XR would not have anything to do with her. Unless she had bitten him but he wasn't getting any abnormal readings from the little one so that meant he was in his right mind and not under any kind of control.

But if she wasn't a vampire, what was she and why did she even have a robotic energy signature?

_I must find out. _

Without another moments hesitation he dropped out of the sky. His destination: The girl and XR.

_A/N_

_Yes the chapter have been getting longer bwahaha. By the way. Zurg, and the XR and Sari bits are really fun to write about. I so enjoy doing them. Nos picked up the energy signature because his scanner is more powerful than XRs. _


	11. Chapter 11

**Warning! Prowl gets into a few details about what happened between him and Shadowstar. **

CHAP 11

"Maybe we should try a different location?" Sari said after awhile. So far neither her or XR had found a single trace of the fembot vampire and nobody they asked seemed to know anything either. "We've just about scoured every building and dark alley in this part of the city."

"Except the strip clubs," he said.

"No strip clubs." she said firmly.

The robot wasn't about to give up on the idea. "She _could _be in there."

"Really?" the girl said raising an eyebrow. She folded her arms and gave him a look. "Tell me. Do strip clubs house robots?"

"I don't know," XR said. "I haven't been in one!"

"And you're not going to be in one either," she informed him. "Not while I'm stuck being your partner anyway." She looked around then pointed in another direction. "Let's go this way. I think I saw somebody who might be able to help us." then she walked off without waiting for him.

"Oh sure," he grumbled, putting his hands on his hips as he watched her walk away. "First no clubs and now you're leading? I don't think so, sister." he wheeled after her, still rambling to himself. "I'm the Experimental Ranger here. You're nothing but a kid with an attitude problem. I bet your Dad didn't even spank you when you were littl-" a shadow passed over him. "WAH!" he freaked and wheeled right into her legs.

"Hey! Do you mind!" she shouted turning back to him. "Haven't you heard of personal space?" she noticed the look on his face. "What's the matter with you?"

"I saw something," he said, his optics pointed at the sky.

That got her interested. "What? Shadowstar?"

"I don't know," he said. "It might have been her or-"

"Or what?"

_You didn't see anything. _He shook his head. "Nevermind. It probably was just a bat. Let's just keep moving."

* * *

"So what else can you tell me about this Shadowstar besides what you gave us back on Star Command?" Buzz asked as he and Prowl patrolled another part of the city.

Prowl wondered why he was asking this now. "What else do you want to know?" he asked him. "What I told you should be enough information."

"Negative," Buzz said, turning to him. He pointed a finger in the air. "There is no such thing as too much information. You of all people should know that."

Prowl looked away. "Some of it is kind of personal." he stated, hoping that would make the man drop the subject.

Buzz raised an eyebrow. "Personal?" he stared at him. "How personal? Did you have some kind of relationship with her or something?"

Prowl didn't look at him. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Why?" Buzz asked. "What happened?" The cyber ninja looked back at him. His expression said more than words. "Oh. I get it."

"No, you _don't _get it," Prowl replied, sounding upset. "and you _won't _get it either." he clenched his fists and looked the man square in the eye. "What happened between me and her is not important. Finding her before she causes trouble in your own world is. I suggest you not ask me that again."

"I'm sorry," Buzz said, still looking taken aback.

"I don't blame you," Prowl said, sighing. "It's only natural to want more details on someone you are trying to bring to justice, but what you are asking of me I can't get into." and he wouldn't get into either because the memory still hurt. "The only other thing you need to know is that she likes to inflict punishments on people."

"Huh?"

The cyber ninja shook his head. "Nevermind. Let's just keep looking."

* * *

Sari didn't have to be a detective to notice that XR was acting funny. He kept looking over his shoulder as they searched the city and kept messing up his questions when they asked aliens and robots alike if they had seen a fembot vampire. When he started pulling out his guns at every little sound, no matter how small, she decided to just get this all out in the open.

"Okay," she said, after XR slammed into her legs when he heard a cat jump out of a trash can. "What's going on?"

"What- what do you mean?" he asked her.

"You've been acting strange since you say that 'shadow' "- when she said "shadow" she raised her hands and did the quote unquote thing with her fingers. -"I would like to know why."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he told her. "I'm not acting weird at all. I'm just being cautious."

"Oh yeah?" she leaned over and tapped him on the shoulder from behind. He jumped and spun around, pulling out every gun in his arsenal. "See? You're acting like you just found out somebody put out a hit on you."

"No, I'm not," he insisted putting his guns away and folding his arms. "It's called being careful. Maybe you should try it sometime."

"I am plenty careful," she responded, folding her arms. "And if I did run into trouble I can take care of myself. Not that I want to. I know what being careful is. But you! You're acting like we're going to be mugged any second!"

"I am not!"

"You are so!" she insisted. "Why else would you keep bringing out your pea shooters?"

"I'll have you know those are Star Command issue assault rifles," he informed her. "I do not carry pea shooters."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Still would you mind not pulling them out every five seconds? It's getting on my nerves and what would happen if a real threat suddenly appeared?" she asked. "I wouldn't believe you if you said you saw something like an energy vampire-" as she spoke a figure loomed up behind her. A very familiar figure. "and then you'd start acting weird and making faces and pointing and insisting that you saw one." she stared at him. "Kind of like you are now." something clicked and she spun around. Nothing was behind her. "Oh very funny," she said, turning back and folding her arms. "That's real mature and professional. I'd hate to see how you'd act if a real energy vampire was behind me."

"But but but-" he tried to say.

"I don't want to hear it." She walked past him, whacking his dome with her hand. "Come on, let's keep searching."

"But I-" he said, making weird gestures with his hand. "He-"

"Enough already," she ordered, grabbing his arm and yanking on it. "We don't have time for this."

* * *

Nos-4-A2 hovered above the two as they walked away from him with his arms folded and an annoyed expression on his triangular face. _Craters! Why did the Little One have to give me away? _

He had been following the two for what seemed like hours, carefully monitoring the energy signature coming from the girl. It seemed to spike when she got upset and go down when she was calm. He still wasn't exactly sure what this female was but he was becoming more and more convinced that she wasn't a _mere_ human.

That got him wondering about other things. If she wasn't human, and the energy signature told him she wasn't any other kind of organic being either, at least not wholly, then that meant she was a machine. This led to the question. _I wonder what her energy tastes like? _and he really wanted to find this out.

But with them walking around in the more populated areas of the city he couldn't get close enough to bite her. That one time they were in the alley had been a good opportunity but then XR had to ruin it by waving his hands around and making faces like his processor had a glitch.

_But I'll get another chance, _he told himself, flapping his wings to catch up with them. _There's always more than one._

_

* * *

_

"Do you think putting XR and that girl together was a good idea?" Booster asked Mira as the two space rangers searched their part of the city.

"Do you want my honest opinion?" the Tangean asked, turning to him. When he nodded she said. "No, I do not. XR and that girl have not gotten along at all the entire time she and her robot friend have been there. I think the Prowl robot was right. Leaving them alone together wasn't wise."

"Then why did Buzz insist on it?"

"You heard him," she said, waving her hands around. "He think they'll learn to get along with each other. I don't see that in either of their futures." she gave Booster a look. "Why are you asking me this all of a sudden?"

"Well," he said looking away and poking his index fingers together. "I just wanted to know your opinion. To be honest I was hoping Buzz would pair Sari up with me."

"Why do-" it dawned on her. "Oh, I get it!' she said, grinning. "You like her, don't you?"

"Yeah," he admitted. "She's real spunky and boy is that kick of hers powerful." he got a real dopey look on his face. "I wish she'd kick me sometime."

Mira stared at him with a weirded out look on her face. "Wait, wait, wait," she said, waving her hands and shaking her head. "Did you just say you want that girl to kick you?"

He jumped, realizing what he'd said. "No," he insisted, folding his arms and turning away. "Why would I say such a thing?"

"I don't know," she said. "But I can assure you that her kicks aren't a sign of affection."

"She only kicks XR like that because he's mean to her," Booster told her, sounding defensive. "I'm not mean to her so maybe she won't kick me. Maybe she'll play footsie instead."

She blinked. "Footsie?"

"Yeah," he said. "You know. The thing two people do with their feet."

"I know what footsie is," Mira told him. "I don't need an explanation. But I don't think footsie is a good idea. Your feet aren't exactly the right size for it."

"Maybe she won't mind."

"Right." she folded her arms. "Look, Booster, I don't mean to sound like I'm trying to break your heart or anything but I don't think trying to have a relationship with that girl is a good idea. For one thing she's from another dimension and thus communication, much less _dating, _is out of the question and for another she already has a boyfriend."

"How do you know what?"

"Oh come one," she said. "It's obvious she's dating that robot she came with. Did you see how she acted when he went offline? You can't tell me they're just friends."

Booster glared at her. "You're just saying that because you're jealous."

"Jealous?" she asked, looking surprised. "What would I be jealous of?"

"I don't know," he said. "But you're jealous of something."

Mira rolled her eyes. "Okay forget I said anything," she said, turning away from him. "We're supposed to be looking for an energy vampire, not discussing dating inter dimensional travelers, so let's keep looking."

"Fine," he said, still looking angry as he followed her. "But I'm not talking to you anymore."

"Okay fine. Sorry."

"You better be."

* * *

"Excuse me," Sari said, getting the attention of a walking soda machine. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure thing, doll," the soda machine said, turning to her.

"This might seem like a strange question but did you by any chance see an energy vampire flying around?"

"Energy vampire? Why are you asking about that?"

"Well we're trying to find it," Sari explained. "We want to take it into custody before it drains machines like you."

"No offense, doll, but even if you found this vampire what could you do to it?" the soda machine questioned. "You're just a girl and from what I can see you don't exactly have any weapons on you."

_Well not on me but in me. _"Oh, you'd be surprised at what I can do," she told it. "I'm not as helpless as you might be thinking. If an energy vampire tried to take me out they would get more than they bargained for."

"Why are you looking for it anyway?" it asked.

_Oh boy here we go again. _Yet another machine she would have to explain the whole thing to. Well not this time. "Do you _want_ the vampire to go on a rampage and drain your energy?" she asked it.

"No," the soda machine replied.

"Then don't ask such silly questions," she said. "Now have you seen it or not?"

"Nope."

She sighed. "Then I'm sorry for wasting your time," she turned away. "Thanks anyway."

The soda machine didn't seem too upset. "No problem, doll."

Sari rolled her eyes. Oh brother.

"Nope, she wasn't here either," Sari said walking up to XR. "I'm beginning to think she-" she saw what XR was doing and her face filled with utter horror. "What in the world are you doing?"

XR, who had been been poking his head in every dumpster and box and had just then been about to lift the skirt of a very fat woman, turned to her. "Huh?"

"Get your head out of there!" she yelled, stomping over to him, grabbing his arm, and pulling him away from the fat lady. "What is wrong with you? Since when are you into fat women?"

"For your information I like a little junk in the trunk," he informed her.

"You're gross," she stated, hammering on the his dome and causing his head to bounce around inside. "I don't care what you like. We're looking for a vampire not heart covered undies!"

"So you saw them too, huh?"

"Argh!" she kicked off his head. It flew through the air until it hit a wall then clattered to the ground. Sari glared at him. "That is your fault! You and your perverted peepers!"

"Hey! They're not perverted," he corrected as his body searched for his head. "They are curious. I'M OVER HERE!" he yelled at his body.

"I don't care what they are," she said. "You were poking them where they didn't belong. What is wrong with you? First you're all paranoid and now you're back to your disgusting old ways."

"I had a perfectly good reason for the way I was acting," he told her. His body finally found its head and lifted it off the ground. "But you wouldn't understand that."

"Understand what?" she asked. "That you wanted to look at some fat ladies bloomers?"

"I wasn't trying to look at her bloomers!" he shouted, totally offended. "I dropped my one blaster and it-"

"Just so happened to slide under whale butt's skirt?" Sari finished for him. "Excuse me if I don't belief that."

"Well it's the truth," he told her.

"Why did you even have a gun out anyway?" she demanded.

"I thought I saw something."

"What? Did you think you saw this Nos-4-a2 vampire looming over us, casting a ominous shadow over the both of us," she laughed. "Don't start that again. The only vampire we need to be worrying about is Shadowstar so I suggest you quit worrying about this Nuts-2-U guy and get with it."

"It's Nos-4-A2," XR informed her. "Not Nuts-2-U. If you can't pronounce it right don't bother pronouncing it at all."

"Why should you care how I pronounce that vampire's name?" she asked. "From what I gathered you don't like the guy because he tried to kill you. I would think you wouldn't care if I made fun of his name or mispronounced it."

"That's not the point," he told her.

"Then what is the point?"

"Do you hear me making fun of your vampire's name?"

"First off: She's not my vampire and what does that have to do with anything?" Sari asked. "Shadowstar is evil! I don't care if you insult her. You can call her Shi-"

"Hey, watch your language, young lady!"

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she said, folding her arms. "I'm just saying why should it matter if I call your vampire something else? It's not like he's going to hear me or anything." as she said this a shadow loomed up behind her. "I mean you guys don't know where he is anyway so it shouldn't be a big deal."

XR's optics got even bigger and his mouth fell open in horror.

Sari noticed. "What's that look for?" she asked.

"Bebebebee!" he stammered, raising a shaking finger and pointing. "Nanananaa..."

"What?" she asked, "Just spit it out!"

"Turn around!"

"Huh?" she spun around and this time she saw what XR had seen earlier. A robot that was not Shadowstar but looked like a vampire anyway because of the cape and wings, loomed over her and he looked a bit upset. "Hello, my dear," it said in a British accent. "And yes, the Little One is right. It _is _a big deal. I happen to like my name spoken properly."

Sari stared screaming.

* * *

"So what exactly did happen between you and the female energy vampire back in your own dimension that has her bent on killing you anyway?" Buzz asked, bringing up the topic Prowl had asked him to drop awhile ago. He wasn't exactly trying to pry, his curiosity just got the better of him.

Prowl looked at him, not saying a word. _Looks like I'm not going to be able to avoid it after all. _Finally he asked. "Are you going to keep bothering me about it until I tell you?"

"Pretty much," Buzz admitted.

Prowl sighed. Great. Just great.

"Look I know you said you didn't want to talk about it before but I realized something. Maybe if you describe how she acts and what kind of things she gets her kicks out of we'll be able to figure out where she might be hiding."

"S&M."

"What?"

Prowl didn't look away. "She's into S&M."

Buzz blinked. It was clear he wasn't expecting to be told _that_. "I see," he said, thoughtfully. "So she likes inflicting pain and humiliation on people. That should make things easier."

"Why do you say that?" the cyber ninja questioned.

"Trust me," the space ranger said, grinning. "I know these things."

That got Prowl wondering how he could. But he didn't ask the man because the answer might not make him comfortable. Instead he followed Lightyear down the sidewalk. But before they got too far an ear piercing scream split the air.

"What was that?" Buzz asked, his eyes wide.

"It sounded like Sari," Prowl said, turning around. "She sounds like she's in trouble." he looked back at Lightyear. "Come on!"

They took off, heading back the way they came.

_A/N_

_I hate myself for some of the stuff in this chapter. It had seemed like a real good idea at the time too. :(_


	12. Chapter 12

CHAP 12

Nos-4-a2 covered his audio receptors to block out the sound of the girl's scream. Why must it be so loud and piercing? Ugh, it was like a siren! "Oh, do shut up!" he yelled, reaching out his hand and covering her mouth with it. "There is really no reason for you to be making such a racket."

Sari thought otherwise and bit down on his hand. It actually hurt! He yelped and pulled it back, looking at the dents in the middle. "Well that was uncalled for."

"So is this!" XR shouted, pulling out a gun and shooting the energy vampire square in the chest.

The proved to be a weak spot and knocked the vampire to the ground. While he was momentarily incapacitated XR wheeled over to Sari and grabbed her arm. "Let's get out of here before he recovers and decides to have lunch," he said, yanking on it.

She allowed him to take her away, her eyes focused on Nos--4A2's body as the energy vampire struggled to get up. He seemed to be having a hard time, like a turtle thrown onto it's back.

"Do you believe me now?" XR demanded as they ran down the street.

"Okay, where did he come from?" Sari asked, turning her attention back on her partner.

"Like Dad said earlier, Nos-4-A2 was rumored to be on Trade World," XR explained. "Having seen him ourselves, just proves that the rumors were true."

"So much for this being easy," Sari said.

"Oh no, Little Ones, you're not getting away from Uncle Nossy that easily."

Both Sari and XR looked back. The energy vampire had finally gotten up and was flying after them.

"Uh oh!" Sari said,

"Uh oh is right," XR confirmed. "We'd better let the others know." he raised his arm as if to speak into his comlink.

"None of that!' Nos-4-A2 said when he saw what he was about to do. The vampire shot a bolt of plasma that hit the comlink dead on, short circuiting it.

"So much for that," Sari said, looking annoyed. "So what now?"

"We keep running until we find Buzz."

"Running?" Sari asked. "Is that any way for a Space Ranger to deal with an enemy?"

"It's how _this _space ranger deals with _that_ enemy."

"Chicken."

"I'm not a chicken. I just have common sense!" he informed her. "That's the energy vampire I was talking about. I've had enough run ins with him to know that a robot is no good against him."

Sari didn't ask what he meant because she already knew. Nos-4-A2 was the robot energy vampire they thought she and Prowl had let loose in the city. Now that she knew what he looked like, well she couldn't blame XR for running. The look on the vampire's face hadn't exactly been friendly.

It had looked hungry.

* * *

_Hail Zurg! Hail Zurg! Hail the Evil Emperor Zurg! He is the most evil-_

"If I hear that song one more time I'm going to explode!" Shadowstar screamed, covering her audio receptor's with her hands. "Who wrote that slag anyway?!"

Of course nobody was down there to answer her. She turned her head and glared at the speaker mounted on the ceiling outside her cell. She couldn't remember how long ago that obnoxious song had started playing but it had been quite a few hours. She would have broken the speaker off the wall if she'd had something to throw at it but she currently had nothing at her disposal except for the cot which didn't fit through the bars. The one thing she did have to throw at it was the pillow and she'd chucked that thing at the speaker hours ago. She'd missed it by a full yard.

She cast her optics about the cell, searching for something else to throw at the speaker. She saw nothing except for what looked like a bed pan. _Oh yuck! That is disgusting! Organics are such filthy creatures. _

But then again; that bed pan might just come in handy. She picked it up off the floor and weighed it for a moment. It wasn't heavy which meant it would fly rather easily. She walked over to bars and looked up at the speaker, calculating the distance between it and her cell. Once she got that figured she checked the weight of the pan again then carefully wound herself up for the pitch.

Once she was satisfied, she smiled to herself then threw the pan, hard. Her aim was true. The pan slammed heavily into the speaker, breaking in half. There was a short electrical sound as it short circuited then a small explosion. After that. Silence.

Shadowstar smiled in triumph and returned to the cot. _Score one for me. Now I won't have to listen to that obnoxious music anymore and can focus on getting out of here._

_

* * *

_

Mira and Booster had also heard the scream and ran to investigate the source. On the way they met Buzz and Prolw who were also heading toward sound's location. "Did you hear that scream?" Mira asked Buzz.

"Yeah," Buzz said.

"It was Sari," Prowl told them.

"Sari?" Booster exclaimed, himself looking worried.

Prowl noticed the red alien sounded overly worried about somebody he had just met. _I wonder what that's about? _"Yes," he said as they ran. "I know Sari's scream anywhere. If she's yelling like that it means they ran into trouble."

"Do you think it's your vampire?" Buzz asked him.

"If that was Shadowstar, Sari wouldn't have screamed like that," he told him. "She's not afraid of her."

"Then if it's not your vampire-" Buzz said.

"Who is it?"

None of the space rangers wanted to say.

* * *

Xr drug Sari through parts of the city they had avoided earlier, most of them alleys or barely used areas. She wasn't sure why he was avoiding the more populated parts because she figured that if they went out into the busy areas that Nos-4-A2 would stop chasing them to avoid being seen. XR knew better though. It wasn't the fact that the areas with people would chase the energy vampire away that made him avoid them it was the fact that if they did go there and the civilians saw the energy vampire they would panic and cause more harm than good. The robot Space Ranger wanted to avoid unwanted problems, like an alien stampede. Plus in the confusion, he and Sari would most likely get separated and then they would be easy pickings for Nos. But he didn't tell Sari that. If he did she might just encourage the idea to get away from XR.

The robot space ranger might not like her very much but he didn't want Nos-4-A2 to attack him, nor did he want to wind up be himself either. That was just what the vampire wanted.

"What are you doing?" Sari demanded, when he yanked her behind a dumpster. "I don't want to hide here!"

"Well I think you should," he said, grabbing her arm when she tried to get up.

"You're not my boss," she informed him.

"I might not be your boss but I'm the space ranger here," he let her know, pointing a stubby finger into her face. "Which means you have to listen to me whether you like it or not."

"Who said?"

"Prowl."

"Prowl did not!" she protested. "If he had he would have told-"

XR put his hand over her mouth. "If you want to live I would advise lowering your voice."

She pulled his hand away but did speak quieter. "I don't see why we have to hide behind a dumpster," she whispered. "What's this thing going to do?"

"Keep Nos-4-A2 from finding us," he replied, though his voice told her he was only hoping it would.

Sari was a little fuzzy on the details of XR and Nos-4-A2's relationship, if they even had one, so she had to ask. "What's your deal with that guy anyway? I mean you're all gungho when we started looking for Shadowstar but the moment you realized that guy was after us and stuff you turned into a chicken wuss."

"You wouldn't understand," he told her, looking like he didn't want to talk about it. That only confirmed her guess. Something had happened between them after all. "You and that high and mighty Autobot friend of yours can't even begin to comprehend what he did."

Something about XR's statement gave Sari a feeling of Deja Vu. _Did something similar to what happened to Prowl happen to him with this vampire? _But she didn't ask. Instead she turned away slightly to peek out from behind the dumpster but did say. "Maybe you should tell Prowl about that. You might surprised to find out how similar your story might be to his own."

XR blinked his optics. "What do you- hey don't do that!" he yelled, grabbing her arm and pulling her back. "Do you want him to see you?"

"What do you want to do then?" she demanded, looking back at him. "Sit here for hours and do nothing? How am I even going to know if he's gone or not if I can't look to make sure?"

"You won't." a voice said above them. Both froze then slowly raised their heads. Nos-4-A2 was perched on the top of the dumpster, looking down at them with an amused grin on his face. "Hello, Little Ones, you didn't think you could get away from Nos-4-A2 that easily did you?"

"WAAAH!" XR screamed, going into panic mode.

Then before any could stop him, he shot out of the hiding place like he'd been told he was going to be melted down for parts.

"You stupid robot!" Sari shouted, getting up to chase after him. "Don't leave me here by myself!" A hand grabbed her arm and held her still. She looked back at the vampire robot. "You have a strange energy signature coming from you, my dear," he told her, looking amused and curious. "Tell me, why would a human like yourself have a energy signature, unless you're _not _a human."

"What I am is none of your business, freak!" she shouted, opening her hand and she throwing an energy orb at him.

He took the sphere of energy square in the face. He roared in pain and fell back, letting go of her arm as he crashed to the ground.

Sari saw her chance and took off after the cowardly space ranger robot, bent on giving the stupid thing a chewing out when she found him. _How dare he leave me behind to deal with Dracu-bot by myself!_

* * *

"All right who broke the speaker in the dungeon?" Zurg demanded, pointing at the security camera feed on the computer monitor.

The Grub working at the console trembled as he said. "I don't know, your evilness."

"Well weren't you monitoring that camera or were you snoozing at your post?" Zurg demanded, glaring at the little insect. "Because if you'd been paying attention you would have seen who broke out the speaker!"

"I am sorry, Evil Emperor Zurg," the Grub apologized, nervously. He ran his appendages over the keyboard. "If you wish to find out who broke out the speaker we will just rewind the video."

Zurg really did want to know who'd done it. Annoying the fembot vampire in the dungeon with the anthem to himself written by himself was part of his plan on breaking her will. He couldn't afford to have the sound system broken.

The evil emperor leaned against the Grubs' chair as he rewound the tape. "There!" Zurg said, pointing his finger at the screen. "Go back and play from there."

"Yes, your evilness." The little insect rewound a little further then pressed the play button.

The two watched the tape in silence. When Zurg saw Shadowstar throw the bed pan at the speaker and break it out, he yelled. "How did she do that?" he glared at the Grub. "Did you leave that bed pan in there?"

"No, you're evilness," the Grub said, shivering. "I work at the computers. I don't do work in the dungeons."

"Argh!" Zurg shouted, moving away from the chair and striking a dramatic pose with his hand in the air. "I want to know who left that in there!" he spotted another Grub. "You!"

The Grub upon hearing his voice turned his swivel chair around. "Me.. me sir?" he asked putting his little hands to his chest.

"Yes you," Zurg said. He pointed toward the door. "I want you to go down into the dungeon and fix that speaker!"

The Grub saluted. "Yes, Evil Emperor Zurg," he said, jumping off his chair and running off to do his master's bidding.

"And make sure the prisoner doesn't have anything else to throw at it!" Zurg shouted at his back.

* * *

Sari found XR hiding in an alley two blocks away. The moment she saw him she began her pre-rehearsed rant. "Why did you leave me like that?' she demanded, glaring down at him, her hands on her hips.

"I'm sorry," he said, looking up at her.

"Sorry doesn't cut it, goggle head," she snapped, putting her hands on her hips. "That energy vampire could have done who knows what to me!"

"You look fine to me," he said, giving her a once over.

"That's because I took care of him myself," she snapped. "No thanks to you. The least you could have done was shot him again. But no, you chose to run away like a cowardly little chicken wuss."

"That's no very nice."

"Neither is what you did," she growled. "When we catch up with the others I'm going to tell Buzz what you did."

"No, don't do that," he said, looking panicky.

"And why not?" she wanted to know. "Are you afraid he's going to yell at you? Well too bad. You should have thought about that before you decided to abandon me."

"No!"

The intensity of his voice made Sari jump. In the short time she'd known him the robot had never spoken like that before. Usually it was him being annoying, indifferent, mean, or just perverted. Now it sounded... scared. that unsettled her. Was he scared of what Buzz might think or did it have something to do with Nos-4-A2? "XR?" she said.

"No," he told her emphatically. "I won't say it again!"

Instantly she knew who he meant. Prowl had acted similarly when asked about Shadowstar after she'd been taken off the planet by the Elita Guard. "Why are you so afraid of him?" she asked, and her face actually looked like she wanted to know. "Did he hurt you in some way? Is that why you ran away?"

"No," he said a little too loudly. "He did not hurt me. I just don't want to be his midnight snack."

Sari looked back the way they came. She saw no trace of the energy vampire. She wasn't sure if that meant he hadn't followed them after all or he was hiding his energy signature very well. "Well he's gone now," she said, looking back at him. "So you don't have to worry about that."

"How do you know he's gone?" the robot asked her. "Did you see him leave? I don't know about you, sister, but Nos-4-a2 doesn't give up so easily. He's still out there, just waiting for the right moment to strike."

"Okay, fine," she said, walking closer to him. "But he's not here now so why don't we let the others know we're here so they can come and help us take old fang face out?"

XR smiled. "Now you're talking sense." he activated his comlink which he'd fixed. "Buzz. Come in Buzz."

* * *

Actually contacting the others wound up being a good idea. Though the scream had been pretty loud the others didn't know exactly where it came from. They might have gotten lost had he not contacted them. After Buzz finished talking to XR he turned to Prowl and the rest of his team. "Okay," he said. "XR and Sari are in an alley behind the Vega Casino. They'll wait for us there."

"Why did Sari scream?" Prowl wanted to know. It was clear he was worried about the girl. "Did he tell you?"

Buzz looked at him. Something about his expression told the Autobot that the human knew but didn't want to tell him what it was. "I'll explain when we are sure XR and Sari are safe and have nothing to worry about."

_So you're saying this is none of my business and privileged information. _Prowl wasn't happy with that thought. But he took comfort in the fact that Sari would tell him if none of the space rangers did.

If only he knew what was about to transpire he never would have thought that.

* * *

"Buzz and the others are on their way," XR told Sari when he deactivated his comlink. "They should be here in a few minutes."

"So what are we going to do in the meantime?" she asked. "Wait for them?"

"Pretty much."

"How can you be sure Dracu-bot there won't find us first?" she asked.

"I'm not," he said, "But if he does I know what to do."

"What? Run?" she folded her arms. "How are we going to do that when Buzz told us to stay where we are? I say we defend ourselves if that thing comes after us."

"How are you going to do that?" he asked her. "Do you have a gun because I'm not giving you mine."

"I don't need your guns," she said. "I have my own arsenal."

That's when the robot remembered the fight on 42 back when they had thought she and Prowl were working for Zurg. The girl had been able to create balls of energy in her hands and she had had a hammer that she seemed to pull out of nowhere. The others hadn't really noticed her abilities except maybe Buzz because of the comment he'd made about not knowing what she was. XR didn't have to be a genius to figure it out. "You're a robot."

Her expression told him he was right. "What makes you say that?" she asked him.

"Oh, I don't know," he said, looking at her suspiciously. "Maybe it's the fact that you can create energy orbs with your hands and pulled out hammers. Incidentally I have one of those too." and he pulled it out to show her.

Sari ignored the hammer. Instead she stared at him, her eyebrow raised. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said.

"Oh don't give me that," he said, putting the mallet away. "I wasn't built yesterday, you know. I saw what you did on the ship. I don't know why you're hiding it but I don't think it's very honest of you or your boyfriend to lie to use about what you are."

"I'm not hiding anything."

He stared at her hard. She stared back, not about to lose to an expendable ranger. "If you think I'm a robot, prove it." she challenged. "I dare you."

"Fine, I will!" he said, wheeling toward her. He stared hard at her face for a moment then pointed. "You have glowing eyes!"

"What?"

"Don't what me," he snapped. "I can see them. They're glowing and the whites of your eyes are a lighter shade of blue. That proves you're a robot."

"It does not!'

"Oh yes, it does," he said, putting his hands on his hips. "No organic I ever met has glowing eyes that look like that. Only machines have optical sensores that glow."

"Well yours don't."

"Mine do too!" he told her. "It's just not dark enough to show you!"

"Well you still don't know what you're taking about," she said. "If I was a robot I would have an energy signature and you would be able to feel it." she smirked. "Tell me, googlehead, have you picked up anything like that from me?"

"No but that doesn't mean you don't have one."

"You just keep telling yourself that."

"Oh but I can sense it, my dear." spoke up a third voice, startling them both.

Sari froze. That voice had come from behind her. XR's panicked expression told her all she needed to know about the speaker. Nos-4-a2 had found them.

"In fact," the energy vampire went on, his voice getting closer. She could hear those glowing wings of him moving. "It feels very similar to another robot's energy signature I came across. Other worldly. But yours.. yours is very interesting.." Sari felt hands touching her shoulders. He was right behind her. "So why don't you be honest with the Little One? It wouldn't hurt you to tell him the truth."

"No!" Sari screamed, twisting around and throwing an orb at him. "Get your hands off me, you jerk!"

Nos-4-A2 easily dodged it. He smiled at her. "It looks like you just did."

She froze. She looked over her shoulder at XR who was staring at her with his mouth hanging wide, then at her and which was open, revealing the inner circuits. Above her hand was another orb. Uh oh.

Nos laughed. "Now that you've revealed your little secret, I think I'll take what I came for." he flew at her and before she could react, grabbed her by the arms and flew away.


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

"So what are you down here for?" Shadowstar asked, looking out of the cell at the little Grub who had come into the room carrying a tool box and the speaker replacement.

The insect looked over at her. The female energy vampire was grinning like she had a few screws loose and it made him nervous. "I-uh. I'm here to fix the speaker," he replied heading over to the spot and propping up a ladder.

Shadowstar frowned. If he fixed the speaker she would have to put up with more of that annoying "Hail Zurg" anthem and she did not want that. "You don't need to do that," she told him.

"I must," he replied, not even looking at her as he got to work. "Evil Emperor Zurg commanded me to and I can't disobey him."

"Why not?" she asked, cocking her head. She didn't really care why but she figured the information might come in handy later.

"Because if I don't he'll squash me and I don't want to be squashed." it replied, shivering.

"Aww, you poor thing," she said, faking sympathy but sounding totally sincere. Maybe she could use this guy somehow. "That purple people eater sounds like a first class jerk."

The Grub turned on her, his expression horrified. "Don't say things like that!"

"Why not?" she asked, leaning back against the wall. She looked up at the ceiling. "I've already met your boss and I know how he acts." she looked at her taloned fingers, studying them. One looked chipped. No big deal. "He doesn't scare me. In fact he looks like a huge push over. Saying just the right thing would send him packing." she laughed. "Speaking of which. Why don't you tell me some stuff about him? Is he really responsible for creating that wannabe?"

The Grub had no idea what she was talking about. "What wannabe?"

"The other energy vampire," she responded, looking back at him. "He said he was responsible for creating it. Is that true?"

"Nos-4-A2?"

_So that's his name. Nos-4-A2. What is that? Some kind of lame pun? _She nodded. "Yeah, that guy."

"If Zurg said he did he did." The insect went back to his task, carefully taking down the remains of the speaker so he could install the new one.

She leaned against the bars, draping her arms between the bars so they hung on the outside. "Did you by any chance have a hand in that?"

He shook his head. "No, I work at the security monitors. I don't build things."

"Oh." she was disappointed. She was hoping he'd be able to tell her something about the energy vampire besides his name. "Who would I ask if I wanted to know that?"

"The brain pods are the ones who know all of that stuff," the Grub informed her. "You have to ask one of them."

_Brain pods? Ew! _"Where might I find one of these brain pods?"

"You can't," he told her, climbing down the ladder with the broken parts. "Prisoners aren't allowed to talk to the brain pods unless they're being used for experimentation."

Well she wasn't going to allow that kind of thing. She'd had enough of that on Cybertron with a certain Autobot scientist who felt it was his right to pry where he didn't belong. "Ah that's too bad." she folded her arms and sighed. For a moment there was a silence then she said. "You don't like Zurg, do you?"

"What makes you say that?"

She smiled, showing off her fangs. "Oh, it's easy to figure out," she told him. "If you did you wouldn't be talking to me and you wouldn't have asked me that." she licked her lips components. "You work for him because you're afraid of him, not because you're loyal. You'd rather be somewhere else, am I right?"

"I- I'm sorry but I can't talk to you anymore," the Grub went back up the ladder with the speaker.

Shadowstar smiled. She was getting to him. "You know, I can get you out of here if you like."

The Grub froze and turned slightly to look at her. "Really?"

"Oh sure," she said, looking at her nails. "If you just let me out I promise to help you leave the planet and if any evil robot tries to kill you I'll deal with it." she smiled seductively, something she only did to other transformers but figured it might work on organics too, especially stupid ones.

"How would you protect me from the robots?" he asked.

"Oh, that's easy," she said. "I'm a vampire robot. If any robot goes after you I'll just bite them and drain their energy so they can't hurt you. But don't worry," she said when she saw the look on his face. "I won't use them against you. So what do you say?"

The Grub wasn't sure, especially since the fembot said she was a vampire. "I don't know," he said, putting his hand on his chin. "If Zurg found out he'd be real angry."

"Who cares what he thinks?" she said, annoyed. "Once you're safely off the planet it won't matter what he does."

He still didn't look sure. "Well."

"Oh come on," she said. "What have you got to lose?"

* * *

"Let me go, you glitch brained pizza head!" Sari shouted, struggling to break out of Nos-4-A2's grasp. It was like trying to push a wall. Impossible. His grip was real strong. "I'm not your lunch! Put me down before I blow your head off!"

"You want to be put down?" Nos asked, looking at her with a sadistic grin. "Fine then." and he let go of her arms.

The techno organic girl plummeted toward the ground far below. She screamed as she fell, sure she was going to die. She closed her eyes as if doing so would keep her from feeling anything when her body impacted the pavement. _Oh great. I'm going to die in this crazy universe. _

But just when she would have splattered on the concrete the vampire swooped down, tightly grabbed her arms, and flew back into the air with her. Sari, feeling the sensation of going up, opened her eyes and watched as the ground fell away as she was taken high into the air. She looked up at the energy vampires face. He was looking down at her. He didn't look happy. "Still want me to let you go?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"Good," he said. "Then be a good little girl and keep your vocabulizer shut."

"Hey!"

He tightened his grip on her arms, causing her to cry out in pain. "I told you to shut up!"

* * *

"XR!" Buzz said when he and the others finally arrived at the casino. "What-" he stopped when he saw the look on the robot's face. "What happened?"

Prowl noticed right away what had happened. "Where's Sari?" he asked, looking right at the robot space ranger.

XR stared at him with what could on be described as a out of it expression. "Sari?" he said as if he didn't know who he was talking about. "She uh.."

"I said where is she?" Prowl demanded, stepping toward the robot. He glared down at him. "What happened to her?"

"It wasn't my fault!" the robot said, putting up his hands as if he expected the cyber ninja to hit him. "Nos-4-A2 snuck up on us and flew off with her. It happened so fast I couldn't do anything to stop him!"

"Nos-4-A2?!" Prowl turned to Buzz and the others. "That vampire you were talking about earlier?" when they nodded he shouted, his optics locked right on Lightyear. "Why didn't you _tell _me!?"

"With all due respect, Nos-4-a2 is not your problem," Lightyear informed him. "and we didn't think we would have to worry about him."

"So you chose not to tell me about him because he isn't my problem yet you admitted that he was on Trade World and on the loose!" the cyber ninja shouted, unable to find the logic in what the space ranger was saying. "I don't care if he isn't my business! You are going to to tell me everything about him once we find Sari!" he glared down at XR. "Which way did this vampire go?"

XR pointed into the air. "That way."

Prowl turned toward the sky, his intent clear, but before he could activate his jet pack and begin his pursuit, Buzz put a hand on his shoulder, preventing him from doing what he intended. "Hold it right there, Prowl," the space ranger said. "What do you think you're doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Prowl demanded turning to him. The robot's face held an expression that said the space ranger better watch what he said. "I'm going after that vampire and rescuing Sari!"

"By yourself?"

"Yes, by myself," Prowl said, shoving Lightyear's hand off. "Nos-4-A2 might be _your_ little problem but Sari is _my_ responsibility. That cancels out any form of authority you have about the villains in your world because he obviously doesn't have any respect for that seemingly unwritten rule. If you try to stop me you're going to regret it."

"I'm not going to stop you," Buzz said, activating his own set of wings. "I was going to say you can't take on Nos-4-a2 by yourself so we are coming with you."

"Fine," Prowl said, turning away from him. "Just don't get in my way."

* * *

"All right," Shadowstar said, stepping out of the cell after the Grub unlocked the door. "Which way is the way out?"

"That way," he said, pointing.

She headed in that direction, not even looking at him again.

The Grub, who intended to be sure she made good on her promise, though he had a bad feeling she wouldn't, followed her. "How do you plan on getting out of here without being spotted?" he asked.

She frowned down at him. _Sparks! I was hoping he wouldn't take me up on my word. _"I told you," she said, turning to him. "If I run into anyone I'm going to take care of them." she grinned, anticipating the feast, even if it did taste stale and generic. "Don't worry about it, my little insect friend." she raised her hand, imagining digging her talons into some weak, metal flesh. "Let's go. I don't want to hang out in this Pit forsaken cell dungeon any longer."

Being in the cell had caused her fear of confined spaces to flare up. A fear she didn't used to have but had kicked in after her arrest and re-imprisonment after her ordeal with Prowl. Being out of that cell made her feel better.

The Grub nodded and followed her out of the room. Just as the doors opened, two hornets came by. Shadowstar made quick work of them, biting into their fragile frames and draining all their energy. Right away she felt much better and her damage wing repaired itself. When she was finished she kicked the corpses to the side and glanced back at the Grub who looked freaked out. "Are you coming or not?" she was hoping he wouldn't. She didn't really want to be stuck with this thing until she returned to the planet where that wannabe was hiding.

He looked uncertain for a moment then padded toward her. She waited for him to stand beside her then rolled her optics and headed down the hall, saying over her shoulder. "You'd better keep up because I'm not going to wait around for you."

* * *

"Let's see how the prisoner is fairing," Zurg said, returning to the security feeds on the dungeon a half hour later. By then Grub he'd sent down to fix the speaker would have finished with his task and the fembot would be going crazy having to listen to the Zurg anthem. He put his hand on the back of the Grub at the monitor's chair and said. "Show me the feed for the dungeons."

The insect was quick to comply and a few seconds later the camera feed from the dungeon came to life. Zurg took one look at the screen and right away saw that something was wrong. "Where is she?!" he demanded.

"I don't know, your evilness," the Grub said, trembling. "Maybe she's just not where the camera can pick her up?"

"There's no where the camera can't pick her up!" Zurg shouted, looking at the insect like he was stupid. "Those cells aren't that deep!" he glared at the screen, gripping the chair with hands trembling with rage. _Where could she be hiding? _Upon closer inspection the reason for her lack of footage became clear. He pointed to the monitor. "Why is her cell door open?!"

The Grub couldn't answer. He didn't know because he'd fallen asleep at his post and totally missed the conversation between Shadowstar and the other Grub. Of course he wasn't going to tell Zurg that. He liked his head where it was.

Zurg glared at him. "You don't know?" he asked. "Weren't you watching the feed the entire time?"

"I uh.." the insect thought quickly. "I had a little coffee break."

"Coffee?! You don't even _drink_ coffee!"

"I just found out I have a taste for it," the Grub replied, holding up a Big Gulp cup and sucking it down. "See?"

"Hmm," Zurg said, giving him a suspicious look. "Since when do we have Big Gulp coffee machines in the palace? Did you Grubs install one without telling me?"

"Oh no," the Grub said, shaking his head. In honesty, the Grubs and Brain Pods had, but he wasn't going to tell Zurg that. Caffeine and Zurg didn't mix well.

"Then where did you get that coffee?!" he demanded.

"..I uh, ordered out?"

"We're trying to take over the universe and your ordering out for coffee?! Oh sure just let Star Command know where we are!"

"They already do."

"Argh! Don't remind me!" Zurg looked back at the monitor. "Why aren't you rewinding the feed?!"

"Sorry your evilness," the Grub said, putting down the cup and rewinding the tapes.

* * *

Nos-4-A2 took Sari to another part of the city where neither she or the others had investigated yet in their search for Shadowstar. This place was dark and creepy and she could see robotic corpses littering the ground below her. The sight made her shiver and she closed her eyes to shut out the images but that did little good because they were imprinted in her mind. _Did he drain those things? _she wondered then answered her own question. _Oh course he did! He's a creepy energy vampire! Where do you think he gets his power?_

_He's going to do the same thing to you, _those bodies seemed to be saying, as if hearing her thoughts. _Then you'll be nothing more than spare parts._

_No! _she thought determinedly. _I'm not going to let this incu-bot make a meal out of my blood! _She opened her hands, creating an orb between them. _Let's see how he likes this. _

Nos-4-A2 sensed the energy from the glowing sphere and looked down at her. When he saw what she was doing he let go of one of her arms. Sari shrieked, losing her concentration as she dropped until she felt a jerk on her left arm. She lifted her head. The energy vampire was still holding onto it so she wasn't going to fall.

But that hadn't been his intent in the first place and she knew that right away. He'd wanted to ruin her concentration which he'd succeeded in do. She glared up at him. "That wasn't funny," she said.

"Nor did I desire it to be, my dear," he told her, letting her dangle to teach her a lesson. "and if you try that again, I'll let go of _both_ your arms."

The techno organic girl glared at him. "Jerk."

He laughed. "Is that the best you can think of? Come on, let's hear something better. Even the Little One has better insults than that."

Sari stared at him, startled. "You _want_ me to insult you?!"

He laughed again but didn't say anything else. Instead he paused, hovering over the area, his wings flapping slowly up and down to keep him in the air. He seemed to be looking for something. When he found what he wanted, he banked then shot in another direction. Sari looked over her shoulder, hoping to see Prowl coming to save her. She knew he would. Prowl would never leave her to deal with this vampire by herself. She didn't really expect Buzz and his comrades to come and get her but she could always count on Prowl. Sadly he wasn't there either.

She sighed.

_I hope somebody comes. _

And just as she thought that something happened.

At that moment a blast of laser fire clipped the end of Nos-4-A2's left wing. Roaring in pain and shock, the robot vampire plunged toward the ground. Sari couldn't stop herself from screaming as they plummeted. They were falling too fast! _Oh crap! I'm going to die!_

Luckily Nos-4-A2 recovered just in time. Flapping his wings hard, he stopped the plunge then shot into the air, his grip on her arm tightening so not to lose his prize. When she heard him curse, she lifted her head and looked for the cause of his anger

Not too far away was Prowl and Buzz and his team. "Prowl!" Sari shouted to her friend, happy to see the cyber ninja. "I'm over here!"

"Silence!" Nos-4-A2 shouted at her.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Now you're gonna get it, fang face!"

The cyber ninja must have heard her because he turned his head in her direction and pointed, shouting. "There!"

Prowl and the rangers turned and flew toward them

"Craters," Nos cursed. "How did they find me so easily?" he looked down at Sari. "You contacted them somehow, didn't you?"

"How could I contact anyone, sucker face?" she demanded, returning his glare. "Not that that will matter in a minute! My friend Prowl is gonna kick your blood sucking butt!"

"Oh really?" he looked up at Prowl and the space rangers. "Let's see how your friend likes this!" he raised his hand and shot a bolt of plasma and the oncoming rescuers.

* * *

"Plasma!" Buzz shouted when he saw it coming. "Break formation."

Everyone moved sideways to avoid being hit. Prowl, who was in front, moved up instead, not losing speed or sight on his target. His optics locked onto Nos-4-A2 who was hovering in the air, holding onto Sari's left arm. _You're not going to keep her if I can help it. I won't let another vampire hurt the people I care about. _

He added more power to his jet pack and pulled out two throwing stars. He intended to use them on the vampire.

Nos saw him coming. "Oh look, the prince has come to save his princess," he said, facing the cyber ninja. He flew toward him. "Sadly the prince is also a machine and therefore vunerable. Lovely."

Sari's eyes widened when she realized his intent. "Look out, Prowl!" she screamed. "He's going to bite you!"

"Huh?" Prowl looked right at Nos face and saw the fangs. The moment he saw the robot's teeth, something happened. Images of his encounters with Shadowstar flashed through his processor one after another. Just remembering them brought out an inner emotion. Panic.

Prowl didn't even think. He spun around and flew in the opposite direction.

"Hey!" Buzz shouted when Prowl flew past him. "Where are you going?"

He didn't answer, and just kept going.

* * *

Sari watched Prowl fly away, shocked that he had done such a thing. Why was he fleeing? What had caused him to do such a thing? Didn't he want to save her? "Prowl!" she shouted after him. "Don't leave me!"

Nos grinned. "Looks like your prince is really a frog."

"He'll be back!" she shouted, though something told her he wouldn't. "You'll see!"

"Too late to save you." he dodged the laser fire from the space rangers and took off in a different direction. "Let's play some tag, shall we?"

* * *

"Okay, which way do we go from here?" Shadowstar asked, looking down at the Grub.

"Well," he said, putting his hand on his chin. He studied the hallway for a moment. "Not this way. We went the wrong way. This leads to the brain pod labs."

"Brain pods." she remembered what he'd said about brain pods probably knowing about Nos-4-A2's creation. "Good." she started down the hall. _Maybe they can tell me how I can kill that son of a glitch. _

"Hey!" the Grub called to her. "I said that's the wrong way."

She grinned at him. "Not for me."

"No, wait! you can't go in there!" he shouted, following her. "What do you think you're doing?"

She glared at him. "And why not?"

He trembled nervously. "It might not be a good idea."

"I'll be the judge of that." then she turned away and headed into the lab.

The Grub stood still for a moment then followed her in.

* * *

"He let her out?!" Zurg slammed his fist on the control panel. "Why that sniveling little insect! How dare he let my valuable prisoner out!"

"What are you orders, your evilness?" the Grub asked, looking up at him.

"Fine them!" Zurg shouted. "And when you do bring them to me!"

* * *

_Why are you running? _a voice in Prowl head screamed as he flew away. _You have to save Sari! You can't go whimp now!_

_I can't!_

_Why can't you? _

Prowl couldn't explain it. _I just can't!_

_Since when have you ever run from anything? You've taken out some of the worst enemies in the universe but the moment you encounter a vampire that's not from your universe you turn chicken and run?_

_I couldn't help it!_

_Maybe you're right. Maybe the reason you ran is because you don't want to go against another vampire. You're afraid of being controlled again._

_Don't be silly, _he argued, shaking his head. _Why would I be afraid of something so trivial?_

_Because it happened before and it could happen again? Remember, you still have those viruses in your system. If you get bitten again they will wake up and who knows what will happen to you._

"That's not what I'm worried about," he said, stopping, and landing on the roof of a casino building. "I just don't want to deal with that kind of thing so soon." he punched the neon light fixture, breaking it off it's base. It fell toward the street below but he didn't notice. "I thought I was ready! I thought it hadn't effected me but it did and now.." he ran his hand over his neck, feeling the area where Shadowstar had bitten him. The metal there wasn't smooth like the rest of his body. It was a little lumpy where the fang marks had been. "Now thanks to this irrational fear, I can't even save Sari."

_But you can't let that vampire keep her. If you do it will just wind up a repeat of what happened to you only with the roles switched. Do you want Sari to suffer that same fate?_

The cyber ninja shook his head. "No," he activated his jet pack and shot into the air. "I can't let that happen. Not to Sari."

_A/N_

_Please don't tell me to update real fast. I'm already updating this pretty quickly so as it is. _


	14. Chapter 14

CHAP 14

The brain pods were busily working on Evil Emperor Zurg's next greatest plan when the door to the lab suddenly burst open. Startled, all four looked up, expecting to see their boss come storming in on one of his temper fits. But it wasn't Zurg at all, that didn't make any difference, it was just as bad.

The moment the brain pods rested their eyes on Shadowstar as she stalked into their lab they freaked out, hiding behind tables and peeking over the tops. "Umm hello," one of them said, not leaving the safety of the table. "What are you? What do you want?"

Shadowstar stood in the middle of the room with her hands rested on her hips. "Who I am isn't important," she told them. She looked from one brain pod to another. "I'm here to get information and you're going to give it to me."

"Uh.. what kind of information do you desire, miss?" one of the brain pods, which spoke with a British accent, questioned.

"Oh nothing too important," she said, crossing the room until she reached the table. She rested her arms on it and looked at the brain pod that had spoken with dimmer optics and a wicked smile on her mouth. "Just some data about a certain little energy vampire named Nos-4-A2."

"Nos-4-a2?" the brain pod asked as the other pods ducked out of site. Just the energy vampire's name was enough to scare them."W-Why would you want to know about _him_?"

"It's simple," she said, leaning closer to them with that grin still plastured on her face. "I want to kill him and I want to know what the best way to do it is." she looked at them. "You do know what that is, don't you?"

"Uh.. I'm sorry but that is privileged information," the brain pod told her. "We can't tell you that."

She glared at them. "Oh really?" she demanded. She lifted her head and looked around the room for a moment. Her optics fell on a computer on the other side of the room. Pushing away from the table, she walked toward the console and picked it up. Then she bit into it, draining the energy before the horror filled eyes of the brain pods. When she was done she threw the now dead computer to the floor and looked back at them. "The next thing I'll drain is that machine you're squishy pink bodies are housed in." she told them as she walked back. The pods coward as she stood over them, grinning, her fangs bared. "and I will keep on draining you all, one by one, until I get what I came for."

* * *

Sari heard the sound of the space rangers jet packs behind her as Nos-4-a2 led them on a wild chase through the back alleys of Trade World. It was obvious they weren't going to give up until they had her back and she silently cheered them on, wanting desperately to get away from her captor. She didn't know where the energy vampire was taking her and she didn't want to find out. All she knew was that it was bad and best if she didn't wind up there.

There was one other reason she hoped they would save her. Prowl's actions. She didn't know what had caused them but she was going to find out the moment she saw him again. There had to be a reason for him suddenly turning tail and running. Surely he wasn't afraid of Nos-4-A2, he didn't even know him.

_So then why did he do that? _she asked herself. _What reason would he have for flying away when he was so close to getting me out of here? _

She would have to worry about that later. Right now she had more important things to dwell on. Like getting away from sucker face here.

Nos-4-A2 roared at the space rangers pursuing him and dived. Sari's stomach went into her throat as the ground flew toward her at a blinding speed. At the last minute the energy vampire stopped his descent and shot off toward the busier part of the city.

"Whoa!" Sari exclaimed as the vampire swerved to avoid being hit by passing air cars. "What are you doing?!"

"Isn't it obvious, my dear?" he questioned, looking down at her. "I am creating an obstacle."

Sari heard a grunt behind her and looked back just in time to see both Mira and Booster fall toward the ground after colliding with an air taxi. She gasped. Two less people to help her but she could still see XR and Buzz following them.

She looked behind them for Prowl. He was nowhere in sight.

Had he really abandoned her after all?

No, she couldn't think that. The chase hadn't been going on for very long. There was still a chance he would catch up with them and save her if the rangers couldn't. She prayed to whatever higher power was out there that he would.

_Please Prowl. Don't let him get away with me._

_

* * *

_

"We have to get closer," Buzz said as he and XR flew side by side except when they had to split to avoid being hit by cars.

"How can we do that?" XR asked, looking over at him. "We're stuck in the middle of rush hour traffic."

"We just need an opening," Buzz told him, aiming his laser at Nos-4-a2. "One shot to knock him out of the sky."

"And have him crash while still holding onto Sari?" XR asked, looking horrified. He didn't know Sari very well or like her for that matter but he didn't want them to kill her. "Do you want her Autobot friend to kill you?"

"If I can get this shot right he won't be killing anybody," Buzz said, still attempting to get a good shot. "If I clip his wings he'll glide slowly to the ground and Booster and Mira can apprehend him from there." he looked at XR. "The girl won't be hurt."

"How do you intend to clip his wings?" XR asked who had never thought about attempting such a thing. "It's not like cutting features. Those wings are made of energy. If you clip them all he has to do is reactivated them and they'll work perfectly again."

Buzz hadn't considered that. "Maybe he'll be too surprised to think of that," Lightyear responded.

Somehow the robot space ranger doubted that. Nos-4-a2 was a crazy vampire but he wasn't an idiot.

As luck would have it, it didn't matter.

Nos-4-A2 flew into a narrow alley. He positioned his wings so that they were straight up and slid right through, using his momentum to move forward without fear of falling. Buzz on the other hand couldn't turn sideways in time and wound up breaking the ends of his wings off. As he fell to the ground, he shouted to XR. "Keep tailing him!"

"Oh sure," XR grumbled as he followed the human space ranger's orders. "Leave me to deal with Dracula. Doesn't he realize how much this is a bad idea?" He straightened out once he was clear of the alley but by then he'd lost sight of the energy vampire. He stopped himself and hovered for a moment, turning his head in all directions in a vain attempt to spot anything with glowing orange wings. But Nos-4-A2 was gone. "Craters. Well so much for that." he spun around and headed back to where Buzz fell. "Buzz isn't going to be happy about this. But he'd better not blame me. It wasn't my fault."

* * *

The Brain Pods huddled together behind one table, trying to look as small as possible. Maybe the fembot wouldn't hurt them if they looked helpless. At least they hoped that, though everything said otherwise. Right now she was perched on the table like a large black and red falcon, leering at them. "We-we-we can't tell you anything about Nos-4-A2," Number 33 told her.

"Why not?" she asked, leaning closer to him. She dimmed her optics. "Are you trying to make me angry, flesh thing?"

"No no no..." He moved back, unable to look her straight in the eyes. "Well you see that information is classified," he tried to explain. "and if we tell you....."

Her optics flashed green then red as she let out an eagle sound. She jumped on the pod, knocking him over. "If I cared about classification I never would have come in here," she growled, her face touching the glass protecting the brain's frail body. "Now tell me what you know before I feed on _your_ energy!"

"Well I uh.." he stammered, putting his little finger things together. "I honestly don't know."

That wasn't what she wanted to hear. "What!?"

"I wasn't here when Nos-4-A2 was built," 33 replied. "So I can't tell you anything."

She growled at him, running her sharp fingered hands over the brain pod's fragile glass bulb. "Sparks."

"Umm, please don't do that," he pleaded, fearing what would happen if his glass house broke.

She ignored him and lifted her head, locking eyes with the other brain pods. "Were any of you flesh creatures here when he was built?" she growled. "and don't lie to me or I will kill your little friend here."

One of the brain pods raised his hand thing. "I was."

* * *

Prowl found Mira and Booster half an hour later. They were dusting themselves off after climbing out of the dumpster they'd fallen into. "What happened?" he asked them, landing on the pavement and deactivating his jet pack.

"We were chasing Nos-4-a2 and we got knocked out of the sky by an air taxi," Mira said, taking a banana peal off her head. "Oh yuck!" She stuck out her tongue and dropped it then looked at him. "Where did you fly off to? I thought you wanted to save Sari."

He looked away. "It's.. complicated."

"How is it complicated?" Booster demanded, stalking over to him. "You left your best friend to that energy vampire! How_ could _you do something like that?!"

"I didn't do it on purpose!" Prowl told him, looking up into the red alien's face. Why was this creature acting like that anyway? He barely knew Sari. "I intended to save her but I-" he shook his head. "Forget it. You wouldn't understand."

Mira sensed that something was bothering the cyber ninja. Something he didn't want to talk about but knew he had to. Whatever it was, it explained why he had fled. "Okay, let's just not get into this right now," she said, stepping between them. "Let's try and catch up with Buzz and XR. Maybe they were able to capture him."

"I hope so," Booster said, glaring at Prowl. "Unlike _some_ people who claim to be her best friend."

"Okay enough," Mira said, activating her wings. "Let's just get going."

Awhile later they came upon Buzz who was sitting on a bench looking ticked off. "Buzz!" Mira shouted as she and the others landed in front of him. "Are you all right? What happened? Where's XR and Sari?"

"I sent XR after Nos-4-A2 after I had a little accident." he gestured to the broken jet pack wings. "Hopefully he will be able to save Sari by himself."

"Too bad he didn't even get close," a voice said above them.

The group looked up just in time to see XR flying toward them. Alone.

"XR!" Mira called to him as he hovered over them then landed, deactivating his wings.

"Where's Sari?" Prowl asked, walking toward him.

"She's gone," XR explained. "Nos-4-A2 got away with her."

"What?!" Prowl shouted, looking horrified. "How could you let that happened?"

"Hey, don't blame me," XR protested, putting up his hands. "By the time I reached the open air he was gone."

Prowl couldn't believe what he was hearing. "No," he said, clenching his fists. "I promised myself I wouldn't let it happen to her."

Everyone looked at him. "Let what happen to her?" Mira questioned.

Prowl didn't answer. He turned away and started pacing. "It was bad enough it happened to me," he ranted to himself. "But now Sari? No! I can't accept that. There's got to be a way to find out where he's taken her. There's got to."

"What is this about?" Buzz asked him.

"Yea," Mira said. "and why did Nos-4-A2 take Sari in the first place? He feeds on robots and Sari isn't a robot."

"I know why," XR said, folding his arms and giving Prowl a look. "A certain Autobot hasn't been completely honest with us."

"What do you mean, XR?" Buzz asked, looking at the robot.

"Let's just say there is more to that girl than meets the eye." he pointed at Prowl. "Why don't I let _him _tell you?"

Prowl didn't look at them but he felt the eyes of the rangers boring into his back. "Does that really matter?" he inquired.

"Uh, yeah," Buzz said, folding his arms. "Rule Number 682: Always tell the truth, even if it's embarrassing." he walked over to Prowl. "Now, why don't you tell us what XR is talking about?"

The cyber ninja looked at them. The Space Rangers looked back with mixed expressions. Buzz looked serious, XR looked annoyed, Booster looked worried, and Mira looked like she was having a hard time deciding how she felt. He knew if he didn't tell them, XR would because he seemed to already know. "Okay," he said, facing them. "I'll tell you."

* * *

Nos-4-A2 dropped Sari onto the pavement with a careless plop. She hit the concrete with a yelp, banging her knee on some weird metallic thing that let out a loud clang. "Ow!" she shouted, grabbing her knee and falling back onto her seat. "Couldn't you have been a little gentler?"

"No," he said, flying over her with his wings still out. "Why would I want to be gentle with my dinner?"

She glared at him. "Because I'm _not _your dinner," she said, raising her hand and opening it to reveal her circuitry. "and if you try biting my neck I'll knock out your fangs."

He laughed at her threat as if it was a joke. "Now now, there's no need to resort to violence, my dear," he said, grabbing her hand. "I promise I'll be gentle if you promise to just hold still." he started crushing her hand, right away proving to her that he was the one in charge, not her. "Because if you make me mad I won't be such a gentleman."

She tried not to wince as he tightened his grip. It felt like he was trying to break her fingers. "I don't.. have to.. worry about that," she managed. "Because you.. won't.. be able to.. do it to me.."

"Why is that?" he smirked. "Is it because your robot friend and the space rangers are going to come and rescue you?" he let her hand go. "Don't get your hopes up, my dear."

"Just you wait," she growled, messaging her damaged hand. "They're be here! and when they do Prowl is going to make you regret ever kidnapping me."

"Prowl," he said, putting his hand on his chin. "Wasn't he the one who flew off like he'd seen his worse nightmare come to life?" he laughed at her. "Don't expect anything from that guy, except maybe my next meal. If he wanted to save you he would have done so and I'd be on my way to PC-7 right now."

"I'm sure Prowl had a good reason for that," she insisted, though she had no idea what that reason could be.

He laughed. "I'm sure he did."

Then he turned away and started rooting through the robot corpses littering the floor, ignoring her. It was almost as if he knew she couldn't do anything to him or sneak away.

Sari looked around the room, hoping to find an entrance she could use to escape from. To her disappointment the only way out was too high for her to reach. She sighed and looked at the robots littering the floor. They were all inactive shells, having been drained of their energy a long time ago by the vampire. It was depressing.

_Poor things, _she thought, taking in the frozen mask of horror on one of the robot's faces, _they didn't even see it coming._

The techno organic girl reached over and picked up a small robot, barely bigger than her hand. She studied it's face for a moment then closed her eyes and concentrated. A second later her eyes flew open and a smile crossed her face.

* * *

Shadowstar eyed the brain pod carefully. He had a smaller number on his chest. The number eleven. "You were?" she asked him. When he nodded, she got off number 33 and walked toward him. "Okay then, if you were here, why don't you tell me about Nos-4-A2?"

"Umm uh what do you want to know?" he asked, cowering before her as her shadow darkened his frame.

She grinned. "How about everything?"

"Uh.. umm uh..." he thought for a moment then said. "Well Zurg was the one who wanted the energy vampire built."

"Why?"

"So he could take over Star Command."

She cocked her head, unfamiliar with the name. "Star Command?" she asked. "What is that?"

But before the brain pod could explain, the Grub that had let Shadowstar out of her cell ran up to her and poked her leg. "Uh.. excuse me," he said, trying to get her attention.

"What?" she demanded, glaring at him, unhappy that he'd interrupted her questioning. _Just when I was getting somewhere too. He'd better have a good reason for this. _

"I hate to interrupt but-"

"But what?" she growled. "Spit it out, you sniffling little parasite!"

"There are hornets coming," he replied, pointing toward the door. "I think we'd better get out of here."

"Hornets?" she spun around just as a group of the yellow and black robots burst into the room. She ground her teeth together in frustration. "Sparks! Not more of those stale machines!"

"Well I think I'll be going now," the brain pod said, moving away from her.

"Oh no, you _don't_!" she shouted, grabbing the pod's neck. "I'm not done with you! Once I take out these droids you're going to tell me all about that stupid legless wannabe who dared to feast on my energy!" She patted his head, grinning like a crazy bot. "Now don't you go away. I'll be right back."

She lunged at the hornets, her fangs bared and her claws out in front of her. "You won't shoot out my wings this time!"

She grabbed the first hornet she came across and bit into it, draining the energy then throwing the shell into the other robots. Three crashed to the floor but the other hornets behind them came forward, shooting off their blasters. One hit her square in the chest, knocking her off her feet and sending her flying back onto one of the examining tables. Screaming in anger, she got back up and lunged at them. "I'm going to drain all your energy then send you back to your master in a box!"

The brain pods and the one Grub ran for cover as she fought against the hornets that only replaced their fallen comrades when she drained or tore them apart. She kicked out at three when they tried to grab her, breaking out their chests and sending their smoking ruins to the floor. She laughed as she took out three more, gnashing at them with her talons. These things were so weak compared to Cybertronian armor plating.

"What's the matter?" she asked, dodging fire power. "Too fast for you? Come on, you fakes can do better than that."

And she would have won too. If not for somebody shooting her from behind, right in the back between her wings. She screamed in pain then crashed to the floor. The hornets immediately surrounded her, their guns aimed at her head. She tried to get up but found she couldn't move. _What is going on? _she thought as her processor started to panic. _Why can't I move? _

She got her answer a second later when a shadow fell over her. She raised her optics, meeting the eyes of Warp Darkmatter. He grinned at her. "Hi there," he said, smiling like a dope and waving.

She growled at him.

"Now now none of that," he said, kneeling down in front of her. "Not if you want to keep your sexy little body in good shape." He looked at the hornets. "All right. Let's take our spunky little lady to the boss and," he looked at the trembling Grub that one of the hornets had grabbed. "Don't forget her accomplice."

000

"Sari's a robot?!" Buzz Lightyear exclaimed after Prowl had finished telling them everything about the techno organic girl.

The cyber ninja nodded. "Well not exactly," he said as an after thought. "She's more like a techno organic but she does have a lot of robotic components."

"and you didn't tell us this why?" Lightyear demanded.

"I didn't think it was that important," Prowl said. "and your commander seemed to not like machines that much and I didn't want him disrespecting her."

Buzz looked at Mira. "I'm surprised you didn't know this already."

She jumped. "Me?" she asked, putting her hands on her chest.

"Yes, you," he said, nodding. "You _did_ read her mind."

She thought about that. "Well I did see some stuff that might have implied that," she admitted. "But I didn't think it was that important so I didn't really pay much attention to it."

"But that _was _important," Buzz said, glaring at her then Prowl. "and it seems that Nos-4-A2 knew what she was already and that's why he grabbed her."

"You don't know that," Booster spoke up.

"Of course I know that," Buzz told him. "Because it's obvious."

"Come to think of it he did say she had an energy signature," XR said, thoughtfully.

"But how could Nos-4-a2 know that she was a robot?" the Booster wanted to know.

"Maybe he scanned her," Mira suggested.

"I scanned her and I didn't pick it up," XR informed her. "My scanner is the latest issue. If I didn't pick up an energy signature he wouldn't have either."

"And as you said," Buzz replied, turning to him. "He seemed to know."

"Does it matter?" Prowl asked. "Sari's still his prisoner and we have to save her."

"Which never would have happened if a certain robot that claims to be her best friend hadn't run at the first sight of Nos-4-a2's fangs." Buzz rounded on Prowl. "Mind telling us what that was all about or are you going to lie about that too?"

"No," the cyber ninja said, looking angry. "I'm _not_ going to lie."

"Then why did you run?!"

"Because he-" he hated to admit it. "He scared me!"

Buzz looked startled. "He scared you?" he asked. "How could he scare you?!"

"It's hard to explained."

"Well do it," Lightyear snapped, folding his arms. "We have the time thanks to you."

Prowl nodded and looked away. "You see, back in my own dimension Shadowstar, the vampire we came here to find, bit me and put me under her control," he explained. "Sari and the others saved me from her control but I made a mistake afterward. I thought I could help her."

"Help an energy vampire?" XR exclaimed. "Are you _crazy_?"

"No," Prowl replied. "I'm an Autobot. I am programmed to help people." he turned away and walked toward the building the bench stood in front of "She had a reason for what she did and I thought I might be able to come up with a way to make her become normal." he punched the wall. "But it was a bad idea. I never should have done it. It only made things worse and I.." he couldn't go on, the rest was too painful. "What happened next isn't important. Let me just say that when I saw him come at me my mind went back to the time I faced Shadowstar. It was too similar and I couldn't deal with it."

"I'm sorry," Buzz said, looking like he indeed understood. "I didn't know."

"It's not your fault," the Autobot said, resting his hand on the wall and staring at the damage he'd done to it. "Don't worry about it. Let's just try to find Sari. I don't want what happened to me to happen to her."

"But how are we going to find him?" Mira wanted to know. "He could be anywhere."

"I got an idea," XR said. "Let's just follow the yellow brick road of spare parts."

* * *

Nos-4-A2 perched on the edge of his coffin, his chest compartment open as he worked on installing the anti-gravity hardware he'd stolen from the traffic light bot. Flying around so much was taking its tole on him and he didn't like using up so much energy keeping his wings active just to stay airborne. His back was turned to the girl but he wasn't worried about her trying to escape. The only way out was too high up for her to reach and the walls were too steep to climb. His dinner wasn't going anywhere.

_I wonder what she tastes like, _he thought, finishing up the repairs and closing his chest. _I am willing to bet that it is lovely.._

His chest compartment closed with a click. Done. He smiled, pushing off the coffin with his hands. The hardware worked right away and he hovered above the floor. Good. He was whole again. No more having to use his wings all the time.

Now for the girl.

He looked toward the spot where he'd left her but she was gone.

"What?" startled he flew toward the spot and looked around. Robot corpses littered the floor, packed so tightly he had a hard time moving them. "Ugh," he said, pushing a few aside. "I am going to have to clean this place out after I feed."

The robots fell over with a clang and he moved forward, looking from right to left. "Where are you, Little One?" he said, pushing over another corpse. "Don't hide from me. You can't get out of here so don't bother trying to. Just come out and I'll make this quick and painless."

A plinking sound caught his attention. He lifted his head just in time to see a small figure come flying at him. Before he could react it latched onto his face and knocked him to the corpse covered floor.

_A/N_

_Yes I am being evil. BWAHAHAHA!_


	15. Chapter 15

Chap 15

"Gah!" Nos-4-A2 grunted, trying to pry the little thing clinging to his face off. "Let go of me, you bed time snack!"

The little thing had no intention of following the command. It opened it's tiny mouth, which was full of needle-like teeth, and bit into his face. He let out a roar of pain and yanked hard on it, finally ripping the little being off. He stared down at it. The thing was a tiny robot with glowing red eyes. It was trying to free itself, struggling immensely. Seeing it wasn't making any progress, the little machine bit into his hand. He let out a surprised yelp, and let it go.

The robot hit the floor with a faint clang, landing on its rear end, but didn't stay down for long. It got back up and lunged at him, latching onto his chest and biting into it. He gasped and grabbed it, yanking it away. He held the tiny machine at arms length.

The robot hissed at him, angrily. It looked familiar. He saw the fang marks in its little chest but he wasn't controlling it. If he had it wouldn't be trying to kill him.

The girl? Was _she_ manipulating it?

Interesting.

He looked around the room, searching for the red haired girl. He could not see her through the mess of corpses. But she was there. This little robot proved it. When it bit his hand again he bit it back, draining whatever energy it had left and letting the emptied shell fall to the floor. Now that that annoying little creature was taken care of he just had to find its master.

"Where are you hiding?" he called, hovering over the mess. "You can't hide from Nos-4-A2."

"I don't want to hide," a voice said behind him. "Not from a freak like you."

He turned just in time to see a big blue hammer being swung at him. He took it square in the face. He grunted in pain and crashed to the floor on his side. An orange shoed foot came into his field of vision as he tried to get back up. He lifted his head. Sari was in her battle gear now, an energon hammer in her hands. She glared at him through the opening in her helmet. Her blue eyes glowed strangely. "I just want to keep you busy until I can get a chance to beat your face in." she finished.

"Why you little brat!" he shouted, putting his hands on the floor and beginning to hoist himself up.

Sari hit him again, knocking him across the room and into a pile of corpses. The bodies fell over, burying him underneath. "Maybe that will teach you to feed on helpless machines."

The corpses moved and Nos burst out of them, his wings activated and his red optics flared to full brilliance. He shot her a hate filled look. "You're going to pay for that!"

She didn't even flinch. She only lifted that hammer and braced herself. "Bring it, Dracula!"

With a mighty roar he lunged at her.

* * *

Looking for an energy vampire hadn't been easy to begin with but doing it from the ground only made it ten times more complicated. Because Buzz's jet pack was broken he couldn't fly which meant the others couldn't either because he wanted them to stay together in case Nos-4-a2 decided to show up again. Prowl also stayed on the ground though he would have rather gone off to find Sari by himself but Lightyear reminded him that their target was a vampire and flying alone in a city he wasn't familiar with, was a bad idea.

As if the cyber ninja didn't already know that. He was a little irritated but chose not to make a big deal about it. Now wasn't the time to be taking offense anyway, not with Sari in the clutches of a being that could easily kill her.... or control her.

No! He couldn't even allow himself to entertain such thoughts. He would find her, before any of that happened.

_Don't worry, Sari. I will save you, just like you saved me. _

"Hey, Autobot! Anybody home?" A purple colored hand waved across Prowl's optics.

The cyber ninja reacted the only way he knew how to. He grabbed the wrist of that hand and chucked the whole body over his shoulder and into the person behind him who happened to be Mira.

"Hey!" she shouted.

The Autobot ninja turned around and saw he'd thrown XR at the Tangean space ranger. She glared at him. "Mind watching where you chuck little bots?"

"I'm sorry," he said walking over to her and helping her up. "I must have spaced out for a moment."

"Spaced out doesn't begin to explain it," XR said, wiping himself off. "It was more like going into stand by mode. You were standing there with your mouth hanging open and drooling. Bleck!" he made a face and stuck out his tongue.

Prowl was offended. "I don't drool," he informed him.

"Yeah, yeah sure you don't," XR said, shaking his head. "tell that to the mech fluid on your face."

Prowl wiped his mouth but felt nothing.

XR laughed. "Gotcha there."

The cyber ninja wasn't amused. "Ha ha," he said, folding his arms. He turned away, shaking his head. "Just like Bumblebee..."

"What's his problem?" XR questioned nobody, annoyed at the cyber ninja's lack of response. "It was a joke. The least he could have done was smile."

Mira cleared her throat. He looked at her. The Tangean put her hands on her hips.

"What are you looking at me like that for?" he demanded.

"His best friend just got kidnapped by Nos-4-A2," she said. "You should show a little sympathy instead of making fun of him."

"Well it's not my fault he's afraid of vampires."

"Yeah, who does that remind me of?" Mira pretended to think then stated. "Oh yeah, you." she poked his helmet. "You're not the bravest robot around energy vampires either so maybe you should keep your yapper shut."

"Hey I've got a reason for being scared of Nos-4-a2!" the robotic space ranger reminded her. "_He_ doesn't!"

"Did you not hear what he said about that Shadowstar vampire robot thing?" she demanded. "It sounded similar to an incident with another robot we know."

"Don't try comparing what happened to me with what happened to him," XR shot back, folding his arms and looking angry. "At least I wasn't stupid enough to try to help Nos-4-a2 after we put him in jail."

"He probably had a good reason for that," the Tangean said, walking ahead of him.

XR wheeled after her. "And what would that be?" he questioned. "He wanted to date her? I don't think so." He noticed Prowl glance at him. "Not that nobody would want to date you," he said quickly. "I'm sure you had plenty of girlfriends in your world. That Sari girl is a good match for you."

"Why do you all think Sari is my spark mate?" Prowl wanted to know.

"You're what?"

"Other half. Girlfriend," the cyber ninja explained. "What gave you all the impression that we are together like that?"

"Well aren't you?" Mira asked.

He shook his head. "No," he replied, frowning. "Sari and I are just good friends."

"So you're _not_ dating?" Booster butted in. He had a big grin on his face.

Prowl looked at him. "No," he said carefully. "We never were."

"That is so great!" the red alien exclaimed.

The cyber ninja stared at him. "Why is that great?"

Booster realized what he'd said. "Oh nothing," he replied, waving it off. "It just is."

Prowl looked at Mira. She put her hands behind her back and grinned. "Come on, XR," she said, grabbing the little robots hand. "Let's see if Buzz picked up Nos-4-a2's trail yet." she ran past the Autobot dragging a protesting XR with her.

"Oh come on!" he yelled. "This was getting interesting!"

* * *

Shadowstar glared at Evil Emperor Zurg as he made his way over to the fembot and the little Grub next to her after Warp Darkmatter and the hornets brought them into the emperor's throne room. He was smiling a big toothed grin which she longed to punch out. "Well well, the little fembot wench thought she could escape the palace with a little help from poor simple minded Grubs." he pinched the Grub's cheek then laughed when it flinched. "Oh that just turns my butter."

"I'll turn more than that when I get out of this," she growled.

Zurg looked back at her, feigning panic. "Oh is the scary little fembot getting angry?" he taunted, stuffing his face in hers. He lifted his hand and flicked her nose. "Hahaha! Save your energy. You have more important things to worry about."

"What are you going to do?" she questioned. "Throw me back in my little cell and blast me with your poor excuse for music?"

"Poor excuse for music?!" he shouted. He pointed in her face. "I'll have you know my music is known throughout the galaxy!"

"For it's annoying repetitiveness," she finished.

"Argh! Why must you energy vampires be so sarcastic?"

"I don't know," she replied, smirking. This guy was so easily annoyed it was fun to set him off. "Maybe it's in our programming."

"Gah" he pointed toward the door. "Take them back to the dungeon. I'll think of what to do with them later!"

As Warp and the hornets left with Shadowstar and her Grub companion she heard Zurg muttering under his breath. "My music is not annoying or repetitive. You just don't now what good quality sonatas sound like."

* * *

Sari moved out of the way just in time to avoid being grabbed by Nos-4-a2. He flew past her and crashed into another pile of robot corpses. Sari spun around. She saw that he was tangled in the bodies of his victims. Seeing her chance, she reactivated her hammer, and charged at him, intent on breaking his chest in with it. _Nobody is going to make a meal out of me!_

Just when she was about to hit him again he managed to free one of his hands. He raised it and grabbed her wrist before she could swing. "Not this time," he growled, floating into the air and pulled her hand above her head. "I don't think you'll be needing that anymore." he put pressure on her wrist until her hand popped open and she dropped it.

The energon hammer clattered to the floor at her feet.

Sari looked right into his red optics, a chill running down her spine. This was it. He was going to eat her.

Or maybe not.

"You think you got me?" she asked. "Well think again."

Nos-4-a2 felt a stabbing pain enter his chest. He stared at her, startled, then looked down. A blue energon blade had come out of her arm and pieced his chest plate, creating a sparking hole. He looked back at her, his expression blank. He looked like he didn't know how to react to something like this.

Suddently his grip loosened as he grabbed at the wound with both hands. Sari kicked him away for her. He crashed to the floor, grasping the damage, his expression full of pain and disbelief. He lifted his optics and locked them with hers. "You stabbed me!"

Sari stepped back, her eyes filling with horror, unable to give him a snide comeback. She hadn't stabbed anyone with her blades since she'd gone into overload and almost killed Bumblebee. _But this isn't Bee, _she reminded herself as she moved away, her eyes still meeting his. _This is an evil vampire that is going to kill you. You have to kill him before he kills you. Look he's down! Get over there and stab him again!_

_If that's true why do I suddenly feel guilty about it?!_

Maybe it had something to do with the way he was looking at her right then.

Nos-4-a2 was getting up, his left hand still over the damage. "I can't believe you just did that," he growled, hovering before her. He started toward the girl, his expression hardening. "You're going to regret that!"

She kept on moving back, reactivating the blade in hopes of scaring him. "St-stay away from me, you freak!" she shouted, unable to keep the panic out of her voice.

Nos-4-a2 was sensing it. "Or you'll what?" he demanded. "Run me through again?" he grabbed the end of the blade, pulling it and her arm down. "Drive a stake through my heart like any other vampire?" he grinned even though he was in pain. "That's already been done and look! I'm still here." he kept a tight grip on her arm and hovered closer.

Sari moved back until she stumbled over some robot parts. Nos let her go and she crashed to the floor. She landed on her stomach but panic made her quickly turn over to face the vampire who was hovering over her, his arms hidden inside the folds of his cape, seemingly forgetting all about the sparking hole in his chest. He laughed. "Lovely," he once again put a hand over the wound and flinched when it shocked his hand. "Oh yes, I am going to have to repair that."

He flew toward her. "After I deal with you."

The energy vampire reached toward her and grabbed her wrist. She ground her teeth together, expecting him to bite her. Instead he activated his wings, and flew into the air, taking her with him until he reached the middle of the room where his coffin was. Once he got there he let her go. She fell into the coffin. Before she could recover enough to get out, he slammed the lid shut and locked it.

"Hey, open up!" she shouted, pounding on it. "Let me out of here!"

"Oh don't worry, my dear," he said, sitting down on the lid. He felt it vibrate with the impact of each punch. "I'll let you out just as soon as I repair this damage."

"Is this some kind of sick game?" she screamed, kicking at the lid. "Let me out of here, you sucker faced reject!"

"Language won't get you out any sooner," he scolded, already getting to work on his repairs. "Now why don't you be a good little girl and shut up?"

Realizing that the energy vampire wasn't going to let her out Sari flopped down onto the bedding on the bottom. _He's drawing this out, _she concluded. _Making me wait. He wants to drain my energy but he's going to force me to sweat it out until he's finished. _She raised her hand, activating a energy orb which lit up the confined space. _Well if he thinks that I'm going to just lie here and go crazy he's got another thing coming. _she looked toward the lid. _The next time he opens that he's going to get a nasty surprise._

_

* * *

_

Shadowstar screamed as she lashed out at the hornets trying to hold her down onto the cot. She hit one in the chest, breaking it out and causing it to crash to the floor, but didn't accomplish much else. Seeing she might actually break free, Warp Darkmatter stepped in and grabbed her wrists, pinning them to the sides of the mattress. She tried to bite his arm but was hit in the head.

"Release me, you poor excuses for spare parts!" she cried, kicking out with her feet until one of the hornets grabbed them.

"Now just hold still," Warp said, grinning at her. "This won't hurt a bit."

She growled at him, wanting with every fiber of her being to punch his teeth out. "When I get out of this you're going to need a dentist."

"Why?" he asked. "My teeth are perfect."

"Not when I get through with them."

He laughed. The magnets activated, pinning her arms to the sides of the cot. The same thing happened to her ankles, instantly rendering her immobile. She struggled but couldn't break free. Warp stood up and looked at her gloatingly. "Struggle all you like but it won't do you any good," he said. "Magnets are a machines greatest weakness. I'm afraid you won't be going anywhere until we deactivate them so make yourself comfortable, my sexy sky-bot."

She shot him a look that had death written all over it. "I'm not your anything," she snapped.

He laughed again and stepped out of the cell. "Bye bye." he said, waving as the door slid shut, then walking away.

Shadowstar sighed and went still, staring at the ceiling and panting heavily. Her greatest fear had always been immobility. She did not know the name for it but the condition had been a close friend of hers for most of her existence. If she stayed immobile for very long she knew she'd go crazy.

_I can't let that happen, _she thought, trying to quall the panic rising in her spark. _I can't give that guy the satisfaction. _

She had to think. There had to be a way to free herself from those magnets. Everything had a weakness. Everything.

_I just have to think of it, _she told herself. _It can't be that hard. _

But nothing came. Nothing at all. The only thing that changed was Zurg's anthem started playing again, this time much louder, and this time she couldn't do anything about it.

* * *

Prowl paused for a moment, running a scan over the area, taking in every energy signature withing a hundred yard radius. Nothing. No sign of Sari or Nos-4-a2. "Sparks," he cursed when the scan ended. "My scanners would be running a lot more efficiently if I was my actual size."

"Your actual size?" Buzz asked, looking over at him with a confused expression. "Isn't _that_ your actual size?"

"No," the cyber ninja replied, looking at himself. "This is a compacted version. I am actually a lot bigger."

Lightyear raised an eyebrow. "How much bigger are we talking about?"

"About fifteen feet bigger."

"Fifteen feet?!" the human exclaimed, startled. "That's like what? Twenty one feet all together?"

The cyber ninja nodded. "About that much."

Buzz thought about that a moment then laughed. "I get it. You're joking with me," he said, pointing and grinning weirdly. "If you are actually twenty one feet tall how could you be the size of me now?"

"I don't know," Prowl replied, shaking his head. "Sari and I never got time to figure that out but-" he jumped up, landing on the balcony of the hotel they were standing by. "that isn't important right now and I have no time to worry about it. Once we get Sari back then we can think about why and how I got so much smaller." he jumped onto the roof of the hotel and looked out over the city. _If we ever get Sari back..._

He shook his head, banishing the thought before it came to full fruitation. He couldn't allow himself to entertain such an idea. Of course they would get her back. Not rescuing her was no option.

"We will find you, Sari," he said, out loud. "and when we do I'll make that vampire pay for taking you."

At that moment XR popped up in front of him, nearly scaring him out of his wits. Prowl let out a yelp and fell back onto the roof. "Haha! Gotcha again!" the other robot laughed.

"Don't do that!" Prowl shouted, getting up and shooting the little robot a glare.

"Eh, sorry," the space ranger said, deactivating his jet pack and landing on the roof in front of him. "I didn't come up here with the intent to scare you."

The cyber ninja stared down his nose at him. He was having a hard time believing that. "Then why did you come up here?"

"Well we can't exactly continue our search if you're sitting on the roof and brooding over your lost love," XR explained. "They asked me to come get you."

"Why did they ask you?"

XR looked away. "I offered to," he admitted.

Prowl was startled. "Why?"

The robot space ranger refused to look at him. He seemed to be having a hard time with something. For a moment he didn't reply then he looked back at Prowl and his face looked different, not cold or mocking like usual. More like... worried? "Can I talk to you about something?" he replied.

* * *

The damage proved to be less severe than it first looked and Nos-4-a2 completed his repairs in less than a half hour. During that time the robot girl had gone quiet, almost as if she was accepting her fate and waiting for it. But he had other plans.

At first he'd intended to drain all her energy at once but now..she'd ticked him off and he wasn't going to let her off so easily. Oh he'd drain her energy, but a little at a time, thus prolonging her agony. Maybe that would teach her to try to kill him.

Nos-4-a2 smiled to himself as he closed up his chest compartment once more and slid off the coffin lid. This was going to be lovely. He was already anticipating her screams of pain and her feeble attempts to get away as he drained all her precious power.

He lowered himself next to the coffin, until his fingers slid between the grooves that separated the lid from the bottom. There he stopped and paused for a moment. Was he sensing some kind of powerful energy coming from inside?

What was the girl doing?

"Don't get any ideas," he called to her. "There's no use trying to escape. You'll only make me angry and I know you don't want that."

Still no answer. The energy he was sensing didn't power down either. She was up to something and he was going to find out what.

Reaching into the crease he touched the button that unlatched it and pulled the lid up. "What are you-" he stopped when he had the top open and stared down at Sari.

She lay on the bottom of the coffin, her hands engulfing a glowing energy sphere. She looked up at him, meeting his eyes. She smiled. "Hello," she said the second before she threw it.


	16. Chapter 16

CHAP 16

Prowl was suspicious. What could this space ranger robot possibly want to discuss with him? Was he just going to insult him again? The Autobot had learned to be wary of anything XR said because he had always spoken him with rudeness or sarcasm, or in a tone that implied he was about to. But something about the way the smaller robot was looking at him made him realize that maybe XR wasn't intending to do or say either option. That made Prowl respond with. "Talk to me about what? What could you possibly want to exchange?"

"Well," Xr said, putting his hands behind his back and doing that thing with his foot that Sari sometimes did when she got into trouble and was trying to explain her way out of it. Was he feeling guilty about something? "It's kind of about what you said earlier."

"I said a lot of things," the cyber ninja reminded him, shortly. "You will have to be more specific." _This had better be good._

XR went to the topic he meant instantly. "When you explained why you ran from Nos-4-a2," he answered.

Oh that, the painful subject. He should have known. But. Why did the other robot want to talk to him about that? "I already told you and your comrades why I did what I did," the Autobot replied, folding his arms. "Why do you want me to talk about it some more? I'd rather not go there."

"Well ,you see," XR said, hesitantly. He had a reason for bringing that touchy subject up again. But he wasn't really sure if Prowl would even listen to him if he explained himself. Not after the way he'd acted toward him. But he'd done some thinking after Mira had had a long talk with him and he felt he should tell Prowl about his own.. encounter with an energy vampire. Just to get a few things cleared up and form a mutual understanding about it. "I wanted to tell you something."

The cyber ninja raised an eye ridge. "What is that?" _Are you going to get to the point now?_

"Well you see...."

"Yes?"

"Well you know how you said that the reason you ran was because you remembered your encounter with that vampire from your dimension," he said slowly. When Prowl nodded he forced himself to continue. Prowl sensed XR was having a hard time getting it all out. "Well I shouldn't have said what I did about it."

"I'm sure you had a good reason," the cyber ninja told him. "Or you were just being ignorant because you didn't understand what I meant because it never happened to you."

"No, that's not it," XR said, waving his hands and shaking his head. "It _did_ happen to me and that's why I never should have said it."

Prowl stared at him for a moment, startled. It happened to him? Well this was unexpected. He never anticipated that the robot would say something like that. "What do you mean?"

XR sighed. This was going to take awhile to explain. "Do you have time for a story?" he asked.

To be honest the cyber ninja didn't. He was determined to find Sari before something happened to her but something told him he was already too late anyway. If he was too late... it didn't matter anymore.

_I'm sorry, Sari._

"Okay," he said, sitting down. "But can you make it the abridged version, please? Since we're in a hurry."

"Well I can try anyway."

* * *

Nos-4-a2's reflexes saved his head, jerking it back just in time. The blue energy orb shot past his head and into the ceiling where is exploded and tiny, sparkling, blue specks of energy rained down. While he was distracted Sari lunged out of the coffin, grabbing Nos-4-a2 by the arms and knocking him over. He landed on his back on the floor with the girl on top of him.

"Ugh! Get off me, you wench!" the energy vampire shouted, struggling to free himself.

"I don't think so," she said, raising her arm and activating one of the blades. She held it over his chest, where she thought the power core would be. "I think I'll finish the job this time before I even consider moving." _This time I won't freak out or feel guilty for no reason._

"You will do no such thing!" he growled.

His words seemed empty while she had the advantage. "Yeah and who's going to stop me?"

He smiled. "How about _that_?"

"How about wha-" A noise alerted her to movement behind her. She thought she was something moving, behind a pile of empty robot shells. Wait! What was that thing? It looked huge!

Nos-4-a2 was talking. "Come to me, my child," he was saying.

Sari looked back at him. "What are you doing, freak?"

His smile got bigger. "Look for yourself."

She looked back again. Now a robot stood behind her, a huge black thing with glowing red eyes and wide arms, walking heavily as if it couldn't hold itself up. It raised its one arm and fired at her with a gun mounted on it. Sari was forced to dived off of the energy vampire to prevent injury. When she did Nos-4-a2 got up, activated his ember wings, and lunged after her.

She dodged out of the way and he missed. The ground exploded in front of her, which told her the slave was firing. She turned to the zombie robot and jumped on it's head, stabbing at it's face and chest with her blades. One of them pierced the chest and the power core beneath. Its optics flickered then blinked out, the body falling heavily to the floor.

She sighed, deactivating her swords. One less thing to worry about. Now for the vampire.

Suddenly something grabbed her from behind and lifted her into the air. She gasped and lashed out with her elbow, slamming it into a metal torso. The person grunted and let her go. She landed on her hands and knees on the floor and looked up. Nos-4-a2 floated above her, holding his stomach plating, and looking angry.

They locked eyes.

"You're trying my patience, little girl," he growled.

He didn't scare her. "Oh, shut up."

She got back to her feet and jumped at him. Nos-4-a2 let her come. When she was close enough, he slammed his hand into her stomach .

She gasped, the air knocked out of her, and fell heavily to the floor. He was right behind her, his clawed hands out in front of him as if to grab her again. She landed on her side but flipped over onto her back, reactivating both blades and shoving them up at the oncoming vampire. He caught sight of them just in time and pulled up, avoiding another impaling. "That trick won't work a second time."

_It doesn't have to. It just has to keep you away from me. _

She got her legs under her and bounced to her feet, running sideways when he shot a plasma bolt at her. The blast hit a pile of robots instead. Their power cores that still had some energy left, burst, causing the machines to explode. The percussion knocked her off her feed and sent her flying across the room. She crashed to the floor near the far wall, scraping her knee against the rough concrete. She let out a yelp of pain and sat down, grabbing the wound. The gash was deep and bleeding a deep purple color.

"Rats," she hissed, wincing at the pain, her eyes locked on the blood which was glowing, therefore sending out a strong energy signature. "Double rats."

"Hmmm what is that I am smelling?" a voice said above her.

_Uh oh!_

Sari lifted her head, Nos-4-a2 was hovering over her again, his optics locked on her like landing lights. No, he wasn't looking at _her_. He was looking at her scrape, more directly the blood oozing from it. That glowing blood with its powerful energy signature.

_Huh? What's with him? Is he some kind of shark?!_

"What have we here?" he said, slowly coming toward her.

_Vampiric shark. Well he's not going to feed on this swimmer. _She raised her hand, creating another orb. "Stay away from me!" she shouted.

But he ignored her. He slapped her hand away then grabbed her leg when he was close enough to do so. She screamed and tried to kick him with her other leg. He easily grabbed her ankle and held it away from his head. His optics were still focused on her wound which was still oozing purple blood. "Well I've never seen this before. Interesting..." he ran his tongue over it, making Sari shudder.

_I hope it makes you sick!_

For a moment he made no reaction at all, like he was trying to decide whether he liked it or not. Then he looked right into Sari's eyes and that told her everything she needed to know. A chill ran up and down her spine and she knew she was in big trouble

* * *

"You see," XR began his story. "A couple of years ago Buzz, Mira, Booster and I responded to a distress signal from a ship that was being attacked by Warp Darkmatter, you don't know who he is." he added before Prowl could inquire. "The cargo of that ship was a coffin shaped box, that seemed to drain energy. At the time we had no idea what was inside it but Zurg semed interested in the box so we took in back to Star Command."

"What exactly was in that box?" Prowl questioned.

XR's face grew serious. "Nos-4-a2," he answered. "But we didn't know that at the time. On the way back I was told to go down and check on it and well..." he was having a hard time telling this part. He didn't like remembering it, he still had nightmares about it sometimes. "Nos-4-a2 woke up and attacked me and drained my energy."

Prowl didn't reply but that sounded similar to his own incident. Only he'd been stupid enough to go and look for Shadowstar himself because he thought he could deal with her himself without help. How stupid he had been.

XR was pacing now, his hands behind his back. "Anyway later when we finally got to Star Command, Nos-4-a2 woke up again and forced me to help him take over Star Command."

The cyber ninja's optics flickered. "He forced you?"

"Hey, Cybertronian vampire robot's aren't the only ones who can make slaves out of other robots," he reminded him. "To make a long story short. With the help of my good buddy Booster I was able to break free from Nos-4-a2's control and incapacitate. Afterward he was taken to PC-7 but got out a few times." he sighed. "He's had it out for me since."

"So he wants revenge on you?"

"You could say that."

Prowl folded his arms and sighed. "You're right," he agreed. "That doesn't sound much different than my own story except for a few small things." he stood up. "but why are you telling me this? What made you want to tell me?"

"Well," XR said. "I guess what I meant by that was I shouldn't have, you know, been so rude to you since we've been in the same situation. I should have been more thoughtful."

"Yes, you should have," Prowl agreed, walking past him. "But now that you have told me I hope this means you're going to be less of a nuisance toward me." he looked back at the robot. "I don't mean your sarcastic nature because that seems to be part of your personality and you can't help it-"

"Hey!" XR shouted, looking offended."

"-but the other parts," he said, ignoring the other robot's indignation. The truth hurt, but he needed to hear it. "I don't really understand why you were acting that way toward me anyway."

"Oh it doesn't matter anymore," XR told him, not wanting to get into that subject. "I was just being a little.... Well I was jealous."

The Autobot looked startled. "Of me?" that was a first. "Why would you be jealous of me?"

"Well everyone seemed to be interested in all your super high tech stuff and it ticked me off," the space ranger robot explained, shrugging. "Just forget it. I was being childish."

"Oh." so that explained the cold wind coming from the robot back at the space station then on _42_. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because it's not important," XR replied. "I was being petty, that's all. Of course everyone would find you fascinating. You have stuff I don't have."

Prowl smirked. "Well don't feel so down," he said. "You have stuff I don't and if I blew up the way you did back on Star Command, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"Really?"

Prowl nodded. "Like I said before Cybertronians have sparks. Sparks are very delicate, like human hearts. If they are destroyed there is not way to get them back."

XR honestly wasn't sure how to react to that or what to think. The only time he ever saw sparks was when the LGMs used a blow torch to repair him or build new weapons, but he somehow doubted that the sparks the Autobot was talking about looked like that. This fact made him unusually curious.

"May I see it?"

Prowl was surprised by such an unusual request. "See what?" he asked.

"That thing you're talking about," the space ranger robot replied. "That sparky thing."

"Spark," the Autobot corrected. "Why do you want to see it?"

"Just call it curiosity."

The cyber ninja hesitated. "Well I-"

"Hey, you guys going to stay up there and chat all day?" Buzz Lightyear's voice shouted up to them, cutting off the rest of his sentence. "I thought you wanted to find Sari!"

The human space rangers words brought Prowl's thought back to the techno organic girl and their problem. "Not now," he told XR, meeting his yellow colored optics. "Maybe after we find Sari."

"Fine," XR said, looking slightly annoyed. Why did Buzz have to speak up now? "But I'm going to hold you to that." he headed toward the edge of the roof then jumped off but not before saying. "and I won't forget."

"No," Prowl agreed, moving to follow him. "I don't think you will."

* * *

_Hail Zurg! Hail Zurg! Hail the Evil Emperor Zurg! He is the most evil-_

"Somebody please shut off that stupid music!" Shadowstar screamed, unable to listen to another verse.

But of course nobody ran to do what she commanded. The only sound she heard was the rest of the anthem, over and over and over. It was beginning to drive her crazy. But that was Zurg's intent. That or have the song so engraved in her hardware that it would start playing around with her thinking.

Well she wasn't going to let either thing happen. Not if she could help it. If she had to she'd go into her own processor through thought and activate one of those viruses lying dorment there just to end her misery.

But she wasn't at that point yet, not did she intend to get there.

"I'm sorry."

Upon hearing another voice she lifted her head, the only thing she could still move freely, and locked eyes with the prisoner in the cell across the room from her. The Grub that had let her out. She had forgotten that they'd also locked him down there.

Shadowstar sighed and shook her head, "It wasn't your fault," she told him. "I shouldn't have been dumb enough to think I could get out easily with an annoying little bug following me around and not warning me about inferior robots and stupid blue skinned flesh bags with firepower."

"I said I was sorry," the Grub replied, looking more upset than angry. "and I didn't tell you sooner because-"

"Because why?" she snapped, cutting him off. "Because you _wanted_ us to get caught? It that it? Was this whole thing a trick? A joke that moron in the dress thought up with you just to drive me out of my mind?"

"No," he said. "Evil Emperor Zurg never told me to do anything. You're the one who convinced me to let you out."

"And I've regretted it every moment afterward," she muttered more to herself than to him. She clenched her fists, trying to break free from the magnet's hold. "Sparks! Stupid magnets!"

"If we have a nullifier we could deactivate those magnets," the Grub said.

"But we don't," she retorted. "and even if we did, you wouldn't be able to use it because you're on the other side of the room and I'd still be stuck in this Pit forsaken cell!"

"At least you'd be able to move."

He had a point there. If if she was still stuck in the cell being able to move freely again would make her feel better. But it wasn't going to happen.

She flopped her head back against the mattress and stared up at the ceiling. _Nullifier. Too bad one of those weren't built into me. Ugh I can't believe all my rotten luck. All I wanted was some revenge! Is that too much to ask? It's the only thing I thought about while I was back in the stockade and the only thing I wanted to do when I got out. But no! All I've gotten is jinxed with things beyond my control! First I fall through a space bridge, I get my energy stolen by a stupid vampire wannabe, then I get captured by a blue freak who takes me to the planet of an even worse freak who wears a dress, then I get taken down by simple machines and now I'm locked in a cell and I can't even move!_

She screamed. "Will nothing go my way?!"

"I don't know," a voice that did not belong to the Grub spoke up. "What would you like to go your way?"

She lifted her head. That purple clad weirdo stood outside her cell, grinning. "What do you want?" she demanded, glaring at him. This guy was the last person she wanted to see at the moment. "Here to deal with me now? Well bring it on, ugly! I dare you to try killing me!"

"Oh, I'm not here to kill you," he said, leaning toward the cell.

"Then _why _are you here?"

"I wish to talk," he answered.

"About what?"

"About what I mentioned earlier."

"I don't want to hear anything from you," she snapped.

He rested his hands on the bars. "Not even how to defeat a certain energy vampire?"

She stared at him. Did he just say what she thought he said? "What do you mean?"

"Oh nothing," he said, turning away from her. "You wouldn't want to hear it, especially since you have it out for me."

"I want to hear it," she told him. "Tell me!"

"Ah ah ah," he said, turning back to her and waving his finger. "First, before I tell you, you have to do something for me."

"And what would that be?" she asked, suspiciously.

"Nothing too hard." he put his hand on his chest. "You just have to pledge your undying loyalty to me."

That sounded very similar to a pledge she'd made to another megalomaniac back in her own dimension. She'd made a promise to herself after being free from his control, to never pledge her allegiance to anyone again. "No," she said, looking away. "I don't think so."

The guy looked disappointed. "Okay," he said, turning away. "I guess you'd rather stay down here and listen to my anthem some more."

"I'd rather listen to that than pledge loyality to you!" she called to his back.

"That's a shame," he replied, looking over his shoulder. "A real shame."

* * *

Sari started backing away from Nos-4-a2. Unfortunately he still had a firm grip on her leg and she wasn't getting anywhere because he kept pulling her back. "Let go of me!" she shouted, trying to hit him with an energy orb. She didn't like the look in his eyes, it was scaring her because she knew what it meant. He was going to feed. He was going to feed now!

_Thanks to my stupid blood!_

The sphere should have hit him point blank at such close range but the orb never even charged up. The only thing that happened was her hand opened, revealing her inner blue and black colored circuitry. Nos-4-a2's expression never changed. He reached out, grabbed her hand, and pulled it down, pinning it to the floor. She tried to pull it free but his grip was like a vice and she wasn't strong enough.

Sari knew she was in trouble. With him holding onto her leg and her hand she couldn't get away because he was much stronger than he looked. She only had one option left, even though it seemed so silly even to her own mind.

_It's worth a shot anyway, if it keeps him from biting me._

She raised her other hand and slapped him across the face, hitting him as hard as she could.

He took the blow without much of a reaction. His optics did flicker in surprise for a moment then dimmed slightly. This told her she'd made a horrible mistake.

Nos-4-a2 yanked on her leg, making her fall onto her back then let it go and grabbed onto her shoulders before she could get up, pinning her to the floor. She wiggled around, trying to get him off of her but it did little good. This was it. He was going to bite her this time and she could do nothing about it.

_Prowl! Why aren't you here yet?! What is taking you so long?!_

But the cyber ninja wasn't there yet because he had no way of finding her and even if he did it would be too late. It was too late now. If only he hadn't panicked. Why had he panicked?!

Sari stared Nos-4-a2 right in the eyes. He met them without even flinching. She saw him lick his lips with his pronged tongue then lower his head. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for the oncoming agony.

A sharp pang entered her neck, and shot painfully through her entire system. She couldn't keep herself from screaming as her energy was drained out of her. Her thoughts began to scramble and static flickered in and out of her vision like a bad television signal. This kept up for a few seconds longer than everything went dark as she blacked out.

Nos-4-a2 realized she'd lapsed into unconsciousness when her screams cut themselves off and her body went limp. He pulled his fangs out of her neck and released her shoulders. He looked at her face which had also gone limp, her eyes shut and her mouth partly open. She looked like she was sleeping. More of that strange glowing blood leaked from the bite marks in her neck, staining the chocolate colored skin.

The energy he'd taken from her coursed through his system, giving him a strange excellerated feeling. This had never happened before when he'd drained a machine. It felt... good.

He let out a giggle, feeling a bit tipsy. This was new and a little weird. For a moment everything around him went blurry. Startled, he hovered away from her, the rest of his senses dulling, making him feel like he was under water. The anti-gravity hardware faltered and he hit the concrete hard. He didn't feel anything. Instead of wincing he laughed again and flopped onto his back, staring at the ceiling.

Wait a minute! This didn't feel right! He sat up, trying to get a better grip on his sluggish thoughts. He'd read about something like this when he'd hacked into the Star Command systems and read about every single person and place on the station. Organics acted this way when they consumed too much of something called alcohol. Their motorskills were slowed, their senses were dulled, and they started acting really strangely and giggling at the weirdest things, like driving their cars into trees and laughing when they fell down the stairs. Kind of like he was doing right now.....

He blinked. _What in the name of Jupiter? Am I drunk?!_

_A/N_

_Sari's energy is kind of.. well it causes strange side effects. _


	17. Chapter 17

Chapt 17

"How long do you think she'll hold up before she asks you to come back and talk to her?" Warp Darkmatter asked when Zurg stepped out of the dungeon.

"Oh, I don't know," the evil emperor replied, looking over at his employee. He thought for a moment then responded with. "She's not like most of them so I'll give her a few hours to two days. All we have to do is wait."

"And what if she doesn't?" Warp asked, following Zurg down the hall.

"Oh she will," the other man replied, smiling confidently. "They always do."

Warp glanced back toward the dungeons. He could hear Zurg's annoying anthem playing, it sounded louder than before. _I'd want to make a deal with him too if I had to listen to that all day.._

* * *

_Control, Nos, control, _the energy vampire thought, trying to get a grasp on his thoughts. _You're just not used to this kind of energy. I'm sure this will only be a one time thing and the more you drain it the less it will effect you. _he giggled again. "Water goes down the drain," he said tipsily. "Around and around and around.."

He shook his head. "Okay, none of that," he slurred. "It's just energy. What would those space rehards.. ranchers.. rangers think if they burst in here and you're rolling around on the floor like a tripped out canine-bot?"

Oh that would be the most humiliating thing ever, especially if it was Lightyear and the little one. He had to get control of this, not let it take over. Sari's energy was still buzzing inside him, creating a slightly humming noise in his audio receptors. He felt kind of hyper too. Hyper and trippy.

The energy vampire looked at the Sari. She was still out and would be for awhile until her computer rebooted. His factory sencors picked up the scent of her odd flavored blood. It still smelled nice. Lovely.. It was calling him back.

He was unconsciously moving toward her.

_No! _

He reigned himself in, falling onto his stomach. _None of that. Not right now. _He'd barely taken anything from her and he was already over energized which was really odd.

He pushed himself up until he was in a sitting position and looked around. Everything still looked real odd. His optics centered on a tiny robot lying next to two larger was. Was that thing dancing?

_Nonsense! I drained that thing! There's no way it could be moving. _He shut off his optics for a moment then turned them back on. That little thing still looked like it was moving. "Knock it off!" he yelled, picking up a spare part and throwing it clumsily at the robot. He missed it by a yard. "No dancing! There isn't even any music for it!" he giggled again. "Though some music right now would be lovely..."

_What in Jupiter am I saying?!_

"Okay.. get a grip," he said out loud. "Just get a grip. Maybe if I can .." he tried to fly again but the anti-gravity hardware was still acting up. He thumped back onto the floor and burst out laughing. "I went up then wooo!"

_What the heck is wrong with me?!_

He had to get to his coffin. Yes, if he could get inside and go into sleep mode for a bit maybe some of the high wired buzz would go away and he'd be able to think clearly. It was quite obvious he wouldn't be able to fly back there so that meant he had to crawl.

"Like a itty bitty baby hehehehehe!"

* * *

"So," Buzz said after Prowl and XR had rejoined the rest of the group. "You ready to proceed now?"

The Autobot was more than ready. He nodded. "Yes," he replied.

"Did you pick up anything while you were up there by any chance?"

Prowl thought about that for a moment. He'd been so distracted by his thoughts of rescuing Sari then listening to Xr's story that he hadn't done much else. He shook his head.

Buzz sighed. "It doesn't matter," he said. He held up a small robot. It had two puncture wounds, bite marks?, along its neck line. "I found this lying next to a garbage can."

"What is it?" Prowl asked.

"One of Nos-4-a2's victims," Buzz replied, looking down at the robot. He pointed. "See the fang marks? That's his signature. He bites his victims to get their energy."

Prowl stepped forward and took the robot. He studied the marks. He'd seem them before in his own dimension during that while Shadowstar fiasco. He'd even sported them himself for awhile, thanks to her unhealthy obsession with his energy. "Are you sure these don't belong to Shadowstar?" he question. He pointed at the marks. "This is how she gets her energy as well. I should know." when he said this he unconsciously reached up and rubbed his neck where she'd bite him.

"No," Buzz said, taking it back. "I don't think this is from your energy vampire."

"How can you be sure?"

"I can't," the space ranger admitted. "But I'm going to take a guess and say it's Nos-4-a2. If we find more of these maybe we'll finally pick on his trail and save Sari before she becomes his next meal."

As he finished saying this something happened to Prowl. His entire processor filled with static, scrambling his thoughts. Yelling in pain he grabbed his head and fell to his knees. The marks on his neck where Shadowstar had bit him throbbed uncontrollably and he felt sick, as if he was going to throw up.

"Prowl!" Mira shouted, rushing forward and kneeling beside him. "What's wrong?"

"He's having mental break down!" Prowl heard XR shout. "Stand back! He might attack us!"

_No! _he wanted to shout but the pain stole his voice. _That's not it at all. It's... it's.. _His optics widened under his visor. _No..._

The pain subsided a few seconds later and Prowl lifted his head. The space rangers were all leaning over him with worried looks on their faces. "Prowl," Mira said again, her facefull of concern. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he told her as a feeling of dread washed over him. "But Sari isn't."

* * *

Just a little further. Just a little bit further. Nos-4-a2 told himself as he slowly drug himself toward his coffin. The going was slow and trippy. He kept on seeing his victims bodies dancing and conversing with each other plus every time he had a serious thought he'd find something funny in it and burst out laughing.

He was about halfway there when the anti-gravity hardware reactivated itself and he was able to hover. But that proved to be more trouble. He couldn't even move straight and just staggered around, bumping into corpses that would fall over on impact.

_Staggering and I don't even have legs to trip over. _

The next thing he ran into into was his coffin. He bounced off it and crashed onto the floor, bumping his head on a disembodied leg. He giggled again as he sat up. "Oooh.." he said when he saw the last bits of Sari's energy orbs fluttering down. "Sparklies.."

_No! Forget about the blasted sparkles! _

Nos-4-a2 pushed himself off the floor and floated toward the coffin. He flew right over it and had to spun around and try again. Spinning was a bad idea and he started to feel sick. _No! You can't barf up oil now! Get over there already!_

This time he made it. As he passed over he grabbed the edge and stopped himself. He deactivated the hardware and plopped onto the bedding, landing on his stomach. Great, that was a bad idea. He was starting to feel sick again. He held still until the feeling passed then flopped onto his back, reached up, grabbed the lid, and banged it shut.

_Time to get some sleep. _

If he only knew how much he'd regret doing that later.

* * *

Shadowstar glared at the roof of her cell, thinking. Outside the anthem was still playing but she'd heard it so long that she could tune it out. Her processor ran over what Zurg had said. He knew how to defeat Nos-4-a2. She wanted to know how to do that. Once he was out of the way she'd go after her true target. Prowl. That blasted Autobot cyber ninja.

Why did she want to get rid of the other energy vampire first? So he wouldn't try feeding on what she considered her property, and Prowl was her property.

_But I can't do anything while I'm stuck in here._

_Yeah but I'm not going to pledge my allegiance to a stupid big toothed, dress wearing, effeminate loser either!_

_Maybe you won't have to..._

She thought about that option. She knew he just wanted to use her for some reason. She didn't know what for but it might have something to do with the vampire.. the vampire he'd built. She remembered the man saying something to the blue skinned flesh bag about wanting Nos-4-a2 captured and brought to this planet. Maybe he wanted revenge on him too.

_If that's true, why?_ she wondered. _What could that guy possibly want to take revenge on him about?_

She couldn't even begin to think of a reason but that gave her an idea. _Maybe just maybe... I can use him like he's trying to use me. He wants revenge. I want revenge. I could strike a deal with him and then we'd both be even. _she smiled, tossing the idea around in her mind some more. _Yes.. yes that would be wonderful and then... I can punish both of them at the same time..._

The more she thought about it the better it sounded. Within ten minutes she'd made up her mind. _Time to gain back control. _

"Zurg!" she shouted. "I know you're watching me on your little security cameras! Get purple dressed butt down here! I wish to discuss something with you!"

* * *

Up in the throne room Zurg smiled at Warp Darkmatter. "You see," he said. "I told you it wouldn't be long."

"Yeah, yeah," the man said. "Well then I guess you should be heading down there and see what she wants."

"I _know_ what she wants," Zurg said, turning away and heading to the exit. He lifted his hand and waved a finger. "She wants to make a deal. Just as I anticipated." he laughed. "I knew my offer was too tempting for her to refuse."

_Yeah but something tells me she might have another reason for calling you back so quickly, Zurg. _Warp looked back at the screen, his dark eyes resting on the fembots sleek black and red figure. _Something not so.. compliant. _

* * *

**Running internal scans. Searching for erros. Processing... processing.. scan complete. One error found. Unable to repair. Quarantining error. Rebooting now...**

Sari's blue eyes snapped open and focused on the dark gray ceiling high above her head. Her vision was slightly blurred and the low hum of static hissed in her ears. Groaning she sat up, rubbing her head which hurt like the dickens. "Wha-what happened?" she groaned. A stabbing pain in her neck lanced down her left shoulder and arm. Yelping she put her hand over the sore area.. and felt two puncture wounds.

_Huh?_

She quickly removed her hand and stared at it. Dried blood flaked onto her fingers. The sight of that blood brought it all back. How Nos-4-a2 had attacked her and bitten her. After that there was a blank because she'd lost consciousness.

_Nos-4-a2! _she tore her gaze from the flecks of blood on her fingers and scanned the area for any sign of the energy vampire.

Nothing.

He was gone.

She was startled. _Huh? Where did he go? Did he go off somewhere to feed? _Doubtful. He'd taken enough energy from her body to power a neon sign. So if he hadn't gone off to prey on another helpless machine where was he?

She held her breath, listening carefully for any sounds that would tell her where he was, but she heard nothing. If he was there he was being really quiet about it.

_Or he just isn't doing anything that's noisy. _Like hiding behind the bodies of his victims and spying on her while she went into a state of panic. No. He didn't seem like the type of machine to do such a thing. But she'd only met him so she couldn't be sure of that either.

Not knowing was bothering her. She had to know. If he really wasn't in the room maybe she could try to escape.

_Why would you want to do that? _a voice in her head questioned.

_Because I'm not staying here! _she responded. _He'll kill me! I'm surprised he hasn't already. _she covered the bite marks with her hand again. _He only drained some of my energy. There's still plenty left. He'll do it again if I stay and he'll keep on doing it until I'm dead._

_But you don't know that!_

_Yes, I do! _Why was she even arguing with herself about it? She knew what he would do. The mess of corpses told her that louder than any words could. _I won't be one of them. _she vowed, putting her hands on the floor and slowly getting to her feet. _Not if I can help it._

Standing proved to be a chore. If she moved too fast she'd become light headed and had to rest. It took her nearly twenty minutes just to get on her feet because she kept on having to stop. Finally she was able to stand without getting vertigo. Now that should could see things better, the techno organic girl scanned the room with her eyes again but still couldn't see or hear the energy vampire. Nothing. Just that coffin in the center of the room. It's lid was closed. She couldn't remember if it had been open before or not.

Had he left after all?

_I hope so. Maybe now I can try to get out._

She lifted her head until her eyes rested on the entrance/exit. It was near the ceiling and looked like only somebody who could fly would be able to reach it without killing themselves.

Well fly Sari could not. Her key had given her many different weapons and abilities but flight wasn't one of them. It didn't seem fair since she had wings. Why give an individual things made for flight if you never intended on having the person use them for that purpose? _A sick joke, thats what it is._

She couldn't even go into battle mode anyway thanks to the energy vampire. She didn't have enough power anymore. After he'd drained her she'd referred back to her normal human like self. _Darn it! Now how am I going to do this? _

She walked carefully over to the wall. Vertigo hit her again and she stumbled, pitching forward. She put out her hands to break her fall and grabbed onto anything she could. That happened to be a large robot shell. With her added weight it fell crashing to the floor, dragging her with it. The metallic racket echoed throughout the room.

"Oh," she moaned, getting back up. "That was-"

Another sound met her ears and she froze. It sounded like a metallic scraping. She looked back toward the center of the room where that stupid coffin rested. It didn't take her very long to realize that the sound was coming from inside. _So he didn't leave after all. He's just in his little casket. Probably taking a nap before he comes out and snacks on me again. Crap. _

Sari didn't move. The sound in the coffin quieted. She sighed in relief. He wasn't going to wake up. But now her escape just got more complicated. She would have to try doing it without making any noise. She didn't want to risk waking that creep up.

The girl moved carefully away from the fallen robot and stood. She continued toward the wall, being careful not to run into anymore shells or trip over broken parts. Ten minutes later she reached the wall and ran her fingers over it. It sloped up at an angle. A very steep angle.

_Ugh! Why does everything have to be against me? I just want to get out of here! _

Well she would just have to try climbing it.

She pressed her hands against the concrete wall and pressed down to get a better grip. Then she hoisted herself up, planting her feet carefully against the wall. She didn't slide down. Smiling in relief she began to climb. _I just hope Dracula doesn't wake up in the meantime. _

* * *

"What do you mean Sari isn't all right?" Booster demanded. "How can you tell from here?"

Prowl shook his head, his hand resting on it as Mira helped him stand. "I felt it," he answered. "I must be linked to her somehow because I felt this pain in my neck where-" he cut himself off.

"Where what?" Buzz prompted, giving him a searching look.

"Where Shadowstar bit me," the cyber ninja replied. "It started hurting and my processor scrambled. I am not sure what it means exactly but I felt an impression that Sari was in big trouble." he looked around, in panic. "We have to get to her before it happens again."

"Hold it right there," Buzz said, before anybody could move. "How can we even be sure this means what you say it means? For all we know you could just be relapsing or something."

"You're just going to have to trust me."

"Oh sure after all the times you've lied about things and held back important information?" the space ranger folded his arms. "I'm sorry but I'm having a hard time believing what you're saying."

"Why would I lie about this, especially now?" Prowl demanded, shocked that the space ranger was acting so suspicious now. "I know what I felt and it can only mean one thing."

"That you've got a screw loose?" XR suggested.

Prowl glared at him. "No," he snapped. "Listen; I've was trained as a cyber ninja which means I have abilities other Cybertronians don't have. One of them was empathy or the empathetic link. I've never had this happen before but I guess when me and Sari fell through the bridge we somehow got our energy signatures linked together. That might explain why I could sense when bad things happen to her. If what I am feeling is empathy for what's happening to her that means..." he touched the spot on his neck where he'd been bitten. "Your vampire has already taken her energy."

The space rangers expressions changed. They knew what that meant. Sari was either dead, close to being there, or was now under Nos-4-a2's control. XR, who'd seen the things she could do was horrified by the thought of what Nos-4-a2 could make her do with those abilities if he'd chosen to make her his slave. "Okay," he said. "I guess that's it then." he started to roll away. "We'd better go call for backup. If you need me I'll be back on 42."

"Wait a minute!" Mira shouted, grabbing him and yanking him back. "Don't tell me you're going to abandon her like that!"

"Hey!" XR said, looking at her. "Have you ever seen the stuff that girl can pull out when she's angry? She's got this big hammer and energy spheres and who knows what else! I don't know about you but I have no intention of fighting that girl is she's a vampire minion and using those things! It's bad enough when she's in her right mind!"

"Even if that is true," Booster spoke up. "We can't let her stay that way. We have to save her and make that vampire pay for doing that to her." he punched his fist into the palm of his hand and made a determined face. "If he has hurt her in anyway I'm going to punch his pizza head clean off his neck. That'll teach him to make a slave out of such a smart, sexy, and spunky girl!" That's when he noticed everyone was staring at him. "Uh... heh." he put his hands behind his back and grinned nervously. "I mean uh.."

"Anyway," Prowl spoke up, a little weirded out by the red alien's outburst. "Booster is right. We can't let Nos-4-a2 control Sari. We have to save her and try to break his hold on her if he has gone that far. Sari is my responsibility and I have no intention of just leaving her where she is." he looked at XR. "If you don't want to come you don't have to, I can understand that."

"Hey, are you calling me a coward?"

"No, I'm am not."

"It sure sounded like you did!"

"Well I didn't mean too and I'm sorry."

"So what are we going to do?" Mira asked, stepping in.

"We're going to find Nos-4-a2 and save Sari," Buzz told her. "Even if she is under Nos-4-a2's control." he started down the street. "Come on, team. Let's go catch us an energy vampire."

* * *

"Yes, my dear, what do you wish to speak with me about?" Zurg asked when he'd returned to the dungeon and stood in front of Shadowstar's cell.

She lifted her head and glared at him. "I'd rather talk about it sitting up, thank you very much." she told him. "So could you please deactivated these slaggin' magnets?"

"I'm sorry," he said, waving a finger. "but I'm afraid I can do that. Don't want to risk you attacking me, you know. I'm sure you understand."

He saw by the look on her face that she wasn't happy about it she seemed to resign herself to it. "Fine," the fembor consented, rolling her optics. "Whatever."

"Okay then, now why don't we get down to your reason for calling me," he said, beginning to pace in front of the cell.

"I wish to make a deal."

"Oh do you now?" he asked, looking back at her. "and what would that deal be?"

"You let me go and I'll take out that energy vampire for you."

"All by your lonesome?" he asked, turning to face her. He looked like he was trying to sound shocked then shrugged. "Fine your funeral. But what would I be getting out of this?"

She smirked. "You'd be getting the satisfaction that the energy vampire you were trying to get rid of is gone. Which leads to the question; why do you want to help me kill him anyway? What did he do to you?"

"Let us not change the subject here," Zurg responded, purposely avoiding the question. "Why don't we stay on the topic that you want to get rid of him for me?"

"I already told you."

"Not good enough."

"What?! How isn't is good enough?"

"Well you see; how can I be sure you will keep your word?" he questioned her.

"Because I have no reason not to."

"I have a better idea. I'll let you go after Nos-4-a2 but you have to bring him back here and kill him in front of me."

Shadowstar hadn't intended to return to the planet after she killed the energy vampire. She'd planned on taking him out then going after the real source of her anger without having any further contact with this guy. But now.. He was making things much more complicated. Unwanted and un-needed complications.

She really had no choice anyway. It was either do what he wanted or stay in that cell and go mad. _Just remember, girl; you can still use this to your advantage. _She sighed and nodded her head. "Agreed."


	18. Chapter 18

CHAP 18

_Just a little further, _Sari encouraged herself as she slowly climbed up the steeply sloping wall toward the exit. _Just a few more feet and you're home free. _

The girl had nearly reached the exit when her ears picked up a scraping sound coming from below. She looked over her shoulder, her eyes locking onto the coffin. It sounded like Nos-4-a2 was moving around inside it. _Don't wake up, _she begged, her heart pounding. _Please don't wake up. _

The sounds continued for a bit longer then stopped. She waited, expecting something else to happen, like him to open the lid and look right at her. It didn't happen. The vampire in the coffin remained still. She sighed. Maybe he had just been changing position.

_Now if only fang face can stay asleep for a little longer, _she thought lifting her head and focusing her eyes on the exit. _At least until I am far away from this creepy place. _

The ledge was just inches away. She crawled forward, carefully checking her balance. She didn't want to get this far then lose her footing and slide back down into that hell pit. She was getting out, not matter she was close enough she reached up to grab the ledge. The scraping sound from before started up again, this time louder. That could only mean one thing. He was waking up!

Sari panicked. She grabbed at the edge with both hands but missed. Her feet slipped and her balance was lost. She plunged toward the floor, screaming.

The techno organic girl feel for a few seconds longer until she slammed onto something smooth and metallic. She grunted on impact then bounced off, crashing to the corpse covered floor. She fought her way out of the mess, creating quite a racket as she did so until a much louder sound met her ears. She froze, her eyes locking onto the coffin which she realized had been the thing she'd landed on.

Uh oh. There was no way Nos-4-a2 would have slept through all that noise. She heard him moving around again inside the casket and then the lid started to open. A few seconds later Nos-4-a2, looking a bit groggy, sat up and looked down at her. Their eyes met..

Sari gasped. _I'm dead! I am so dead!_

An eternity passed

But what he said to her was a total surprise. "Would you mind keeping it down!?" he demanded. "I have a horrible processor ache and I would be happy if you stopped making such a racket!"

"P-processor Ache?!" she exclaimed.

"Shut up!" he yelled, grabbing his head. he groaned. "Oh why did you have to do that? Do you want me to-" he cut himself off. Sari noticed he suddenly looked sick. "Oh.." he moaned, resting his head in her hands. "I don't feel well at all."

The girl couldn't believe what she was seeing. a Robot with a hangover and sick? _What kind of oil has he been drinking? High grade energon?_

He glared at her. "This.. this is your fault!" he suddenly accused, pointing a shaky finger at her as he pulled himself out of the coffin. Thanks to all he noise he wasn't going to get anymore sleep. He might as well get up and face this thing. "You and your-" he lost his grip and fell, crashing to the floor in front of her, landing on a bed of spare parts.

She stared, watching him as he tried to get up but whatever made him hover wasn't working and all he could do was push himself up with his hand. He rubbed his head, glaring at her. "Why are your eyes so bright?" he snapped, squinting. "Can't you dim those things?"

"Uh.. excuse me?"

"Hush!" he yelled. "Stop talking so loud! What is wrong with you? Don't you understand English?"

She fell silent but not because he told her to but because she was too weirded out to say anything else. _Yup, definitely a hang over. _

Nos-4-a2 continued to glare at her as he rubbed his aching head and tried to sit up properly. To do that he had to roll over which was humiliating, with his prisoner watching him. What was she thinking? His eyes focused on her neck. Below the fang marks her dress was stained purple. Her blood.. all that energy. All that delicious alien energy. This was her fault he felt this way. He would have to punish her for it.

Once his head stopped pounding.

* * *

Zurg summoned in a Grub to deactivate the magnets holding Shadowstar to her cot. Once she could move again she sat up and punched the hornet that had come in with the bug. It went flying outside of the cell and crashed into the wall on the other side of the room. "Primus, that felt good," she said, rubbing her fist as the Grub shivered then dashed out of the room. She grinned, watching it flee. _That's right, insect. Flee because you're next. _

Zurg stared at the broken and smoking hornet for a moment. "Oh my. Temper temper," he stated, looking at her as she stood and headed towqard him. "What would your mother think?"

"I don't have a mother," she said, stepping out of the cell. "I don't have a father either."

"Of course not, you're a robot."

"Where I come from that doesn't matter," she informed him.

He looked startled. "Where you come from?" he asked. In all the time he had her there he hadn't given any thought of where this energy vampire was built or who had built her. What was the name of her home planet? "Where would that be?"

"It's in important," she told him, walking toward the door. The fembot vampire didn't want to talk about it. Her homeworld wasn't any of Zurg's business. "Why don't you just tell me what you want me to do so I can get going?"

Zurg followed her out of the room. He was frowning. "Don't give me an attitude, young lady," he said to her, thinking he'd better exercise his authority. "Just remember I can put you back in that cell."

She looked at him, not the least bit intimidated by his threat. "But you won't." she stated. "and we both know it."

"Well you're right about that," he consented, looking taken aback. "But only because I need you."

She smiled. "Yes, you _do_ need me. I'm the only one who can go against that guy and defeat him."

"Well you and Buzz Lightyear."

This was a name she had never heard before. "Who is Buzz Lightyear?" she questioned.

"Only the greatest Space Rangers in the galaxy," he replied, looking angry. He clenched a fist and punched the wall. " and the biggest thorn in my side! That stupid space ranger ruins all my plans but not this time! I'll show him!"

The fembot watched him as he ranted, amused by his reaction to her question. Whoever this Buzz Lightyear was he sure seemed to have some kind of hold on this guy. _Space Rangers. They sound like the good guys. _she thought. _If they're the good guys that means Prowl and his freak pet might try to team up with them. Hopefully that hasn't happened. I don't want another thing standing in the way of my revenge, especially more stupid wannabes. It's bad enough I have to deal with that stupid vampire I would go crazy if I had take care of these space rangers out too._

But she knew nothing about space rangers. Maybe this guy did though. Of course he did. He was the universes bad guy.. more or less. She was just having a hard time taking him seriously.

"Zurg," she said trying to get his attention as he glared at the wall, panting.

"What?" he demanded, looking at her.

"Before I head out why don't you tell me a thing or two about these space rangers?"

* * *

Aware of the fact that Sari had already been bitten thanks to the cyber ninja's empathetic link, Prowl and the Space Rangers grew more serious as they continued following the trail of the energy vampire. Every once in awhile they came upon another drained robot which only served as a reminder of their mission. The city was big and hours passed without much luck besides finding dead robot shells lying on the ground. Prowl looked up at the sky which was beginning to lighten.

Day was coming and still no luck. Prowl had tried to use the link again but he felt nothing which meant Sari was either unconscious or not in any danger. Not in any danger? She was the prisoner of an energy vampire! She'd be in danger until they got her back.

_That leaves the question. If Nos-4-a2 does make her his slave will I become one too because I'm linked to her? _

_Okay it's called Empathy not shared pain, though I did feel her pain... maybe because I've gone through it myself. It's very unlikely that just because she might become his servant that I will too. _

That bothered him. If that was true would he feel it if another machine he knew was bitten? He looked down at XR was who was walking beside him. If Nos-4-a2 decided to snack on him would he feel that as well? Probably not because he didn't know him very well and they hadn't established a link. The cyber ninja didn't realize he was staring until, XR asked. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

Prowl jumped. "I uh.. sorry," he apologized, looking away. "I was just thinking."

"About what?" he asked curiously.

"Nothing, it's not important."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

There was a silence then Prowl asked him, changing the subject completely. "Can you tell me why your friend Booster is acting so strangely?"

"What do you mean by strangely?"

"Well..," the cyber ninja looked back at the red alien space ranger. He would have to be careful what he said. He knew that Booster and XR were best friends and he didn't want to offend the other robot by making assumptions. "I noticed he seemed strangely happy when I said Sari and I weren't together then when I mentioned the possibility that she might be under Nos-4-a2's control he started getting violent and said some strange things.."

"Oh that," XR said. To the cyber ninja's surprise he laughed and waved it off. "Don't worry about that. He's just crushing."

This was a surprise. "Crushing?"

"Yeah, he's got a crush on your friend," the robot replied. "I'm surprised you didn't notice. It's rather obvious."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why does he have a crush on her?" Prowl asked him. "He barely knows her and Sari hasn't exactly been all that nice to any of you..."

XR shrugged. "I don't know," he replied. "That's Booster for you."

The fact bothered him, though he didn't really know why. Why should it matter if Booster had a crush on her? It wasn't like she was going to share his feelings. Maybe that was it. He didn't want Booster's heart to be broken. He knew Sari wouldn't share the other alien's feelings. _Maybe he won't tell her. _He looked back at the red alien again. _I'd hate to see what would happen if he did._

* * *

Sari sat back and watched Nos-4-a2 with a strange fascination. He was crouched over slightly, still holding his head and moaning like he had the worst migraine ever. She'd never seen a robot with a hangover before. But what would cause a robot to get a hangover in the first place?

_I bet he got it from eating too much, _she concluded. _Like when the Autobots have too much of that weird high grade energon stuff and stagger around and talk all funny. _It wouldn't surprise her in the least if other robots could get drunk too. _But where would this guy get high grade, if that's what gave it to him?_

An amusing though came to her. _Maybe he's got some spiked oil stashed around here. Yeah he probably has some wild parties and once he gets his guests all good and drunk he eats them all and gets all trippy. _she couldn't help herself from giggling. _That would be a party to die for! _She jumped, startled by her own morbid humor.

Nos-4-a2 looked at her with an annoyed expression. "Something funny?" he demanded.

"Oh no.." she said, trying to look innocent. "Nothing at all."

He continued to glare at her for a moment longer, seeming to be trying to decide whether to believe her or not then he looked away. She noticed he looked kind of.. sick?

_Oh crap! Don't tell me he's going to-_

The energy vampire suddenly turned his back on her and she heard a not so pleasant sound coming from him. Retching. She was familiar with that sound because her father made the same noise the day after he had cocktail parties.

_Ew..._

Finally he stopped making that noise and looked back at her, wiping his mouth off with his hand. He noticed the disgusted expression she wore and took offense. "What's that look for?"

"You are gross," she stated.

"Gross?!" he exclaimed, angrily. He got off the floor and hovered over her, his optics flashing angrily. "This is all your fault, you stupid wench! You and your energy with its alluring scent!"

_My energy?! _she had no idea what he was talking about but the answer came quickly. She'd done it. He must have gone trippy after he'd bitten her. She was responsible for his hangover. _Interesting._

"Maybe next time you'll think twice before snacking on me!" she shouted. _Serves you right, you creep! I'm glad I made you sick!_

Shouting at him proved to be unwise. He struck at her, slapping her cheek hard enough to knock her over. "Don't give me your mouth, brat," he ordered as she sat back up, holding her reddening cheek. "I am still the one with the advantage here." he pointed into her face. "Don't think just because your energy did this that I am going to let you go. Oh no. I'm going to keep you here and there is nothing you can do about it."

"Keep me here and what?" she growled, the whole left side of her face stinging from the blow. She shouldn't have been so surprised. He was a villain and a jerk, of course he'd hit her. "Teach me a lesson? Are you going to drain my energy again? I dare you to. I hope it makes you feel worse than you already do, you stupid energy sucking poor excuse for a machine!"

He hit her again, harder this time, sending her flying into the side of his coffin. "Don't you ever talk to me with such disrespect again!"

"What are you going to do?" she demanded, glaring at him. Her entire right side hurt like heck. "Kill me? I dare you to try!" she pushed back her hair which had fallen out of her ponytail, revealing her neck. "Go ahead and bite me, you sick freak!"

Nos-4-a2 wanted to do just that. He could smell her energy from where he hovered. It was calling to him. He shook his head. "No," he said.

She looked surprised. She'd been hoping he would. If he did and passed out she could try to get away again and make sure he didn't stop her by tying the coffin shut.

He flew toward her and grabbed her face, turning it up so she was looking him right in the eyes. "You'd like that wouldn't you? Then while I'm out of it you'll use it as a chance to escape." he smiled. "I don't think so. I've got a much better idea."

* * *

It took Zurg quit awhile to explain everything to her because she'd stop him every once in awhile to ask questions. She could tell by the look on his face that he was annoyed by having to waste so much time telling her all of this. She sensed that he thought she should already know it all. But how could she? This wasn't her universe. It was his. At least he wasn't asking her why she wanted to know.

When he was finished he ended with. "But I am sure that you won't have to worry about the space rangers."

"I should hope not," she responded, folding her arms. "Though I wouldn't mind if I did, especially if they have a certain individual with them."

Her tsatement got him curious. "Eh and who would that be?" he questioned.

"Never mind," she said, waving him off. "You don't really need to know that."

But she'd peaked his curiosity. "Oh, come on," he prompted, moving closer to her, invading her personal space. "Who is it? Somebody important?"

She glared at him. "I said forget it!"

"Okay fine," he relented. "Venus, you must really be embarrassed about this person to react like that!"

"That's not it at all," she informed him. "It's just none of your concern who or what this person is. He isn't your problem so don't make it such."

"Okay fine, fine," he consented, shrugging. "Whatever you say. If you want to keep him to yourself then feel free to do so." then he questioned. "Is it your ex-boyfriend?"

"Argh!" she screamed, turning on him and throwing a punch. He ducked to avoid getting hit and her fist smashed into the wall.

"Oh dear," he said, looking up at the indent in the wall. "Touche touche."

"I told you to forget it," she growled at him, pulling away. "The least you could do is respect my wishes after what I'm doing for you."

* * *

Mira yawned hugely, covering her mouth with her hand. "Man, I'm tired," she stated, stretching her arms out wide. She looked up at the sky and saw the sun was starting to rise over the buildings. "It's morning already?!"

"It looks like it," Buzz replied, also looking fatigued. "and I don't think we're any closer to finding Nos-4-a2's lair."

"Well since it's morning maybe he'll go to sleep?" Mira suggested, rubbing her eyes. "Maybe we should wait until it gets dark before we look again. He goes out at night. So if we wait for sunset we can follow him when he comes out to feed."

That sounded like a plan. Buzz nodded. "Good idea."

But Prowl didn't want to rest. Being a robot he didn't get tired. He looked at the others. "I don't want to wait," he said. "If he sleeps during the day it would be wiser to keep looking while he's sleeping."

"We can't do that," Buzz told him. "Trade World is more active during the day we'll never be able to find him with all these people getting in our way."

"Plus I'm due for a recharge," XR spoke up.

The cyber ninja looked from one space ranger to another. They all looked tired and cranky. Something told him if he continued to argue they'd snap at him and he wouldn't win anyway. He sighed. "Fine." he consented. "We'll wait until dark."

There was nothing else he could do. He looked in the direction he thought Nos-4-a2's lair might be. _I'm sorry. Please wait a little longer, Sari. Just a little longer. If you can don't allow him to drain anymore of you energy. _

"Let's get a room," Buzz said, heading toward a nearby hotel.

Prowl followed not because he wanted to but because he had no other choice. Or maybe he did? Just because they needed to rest didn't mean he had to. "Go ahead," he told the space rangers.

Buzz and the others looked back at him. "What?" the human space ranger asked.

"You can all rest," he answered. "but I'm going to keep looking."

"In broud daylight?" Mira questioned, looking startled. "I don't now if that's a good idea. You might attract unwanted attention."

"I can take care of myself," he told her, not about to change his mind. "I've been doing it for millions of years. Besides," he added, turning away. "There really isn't anything in your universe I need to be worried about except for those energy vampires."

"Oh no," Buzz said. "you're not going to walk around the city by yourself."

"Are you going to come with me?" he asked him. "I thought you were tired and needed to rest."

"I am," Lightyear admitted. "I was referring to somebody else." he looked at XR. "Somebody who doesn't really need to get any sleep."

"Wait me!?" XR exclaimed, putting his hands on his chest. "You've got to be kidding! I need to recharge! I can't stay up all day long without at least a power nap!"

"Prowl can't search the city by himself, XR," Buzz replied, folding his arms. "It would be unprofessional to leave him alone in a city he is not familiar with. Besides-"

"Oh no!" XR cut him off. "There is no besides! I get what you mean. Well fine! I'll baby-sit the Autobot while you guys go up and lie on those comfortable beds." he cast a longing glance over toward the hotel. "I know when I'm not wanted."

"Oh don't start with the pity party, XR," Mira said. "It's not like we're trying to get rid of you or anything it's just that you're a machine so you don't really require sleep. I promise you that after this is all over you can recharge to your power cores content."

"Okay fine." he consented. "You'd just better have some good oil waiting for me when we get back." he wheeled over to Prowl. "Come on. Let's keep looking."

"I'm sorry," Prowl said, as they walked away. "I didn't intend for you to come with me."

"Yeah, sure sure whatever." XR said. he didn't want to talk about it. "Let's just keep looking."

_A/N_

_Even if I only get one review per chapter I'm updating because that one review is worth it.  
_


	19. Chapter 19

CHAP 19

"Hey, there, my sexy sky-bot," Warp Darkmatter said when the Decepticon femme and Zurg entered the throne room ten minutes later.

Shadowstar turned to glare at him. "What did you call me?" she demanded angrily.

"You heard me," he said, smiling a smarmy smile. He leaned forward and pointed at her that smile plastered obnoxiously on his blue face. "I called you sexy."

The femme obviously didn't like to be called such a thing, especially by an organic. The word reminded her of things she'd rather forget. The next thing Warp knew she had him by the throat and up against the wall. "Let me make things completely clear, blue boy," she growled. "I do not appreciate being hit on by organics and I most certainly don't like being refered to as "my" or "sexy sky-bot" if you want to refer to me as anything you will either call me Shadowstar or Mistress."

"Okay, I'm sorry," he gasped, grabbing her hand and trying to pry his neck free from her grasp. She was choking him. "My mistake. I won't do it again."

Her optics flared brightly, switching from red to green then back to red. "I surely hope you don't."

"Now now," Zurg said, stepping in and resting a hand on her shoulder. "None of that. I wouldn't want to hear that you killed your partner."

"Partner?" she turned to glare at him, her grip on Warp still vice like. "What partner?"

He pointed, smiling craftily. "Him."

She looked back at Darkmatter whose blue face looked bluer from lack of air. "Him?! I thought I made it clear that I want to take that wannabe out by myself."

"I know what you said," Zurg replied, shrugging. "But I can't risk the chance of you going back on your word and killing Nos-4-a2 after you take him down. Besides;" he went on, looking at his nails. "You don't seem to know your way around this galaxy so I figured you might need somebody to take you back to Trade World."

She glared at him, knowing he was right. If she left the planet by herself she would never be able to find Trade World much less Pluto."I don't see why I have to have him for a partner." she growled.

"Warp Darkmatter is your backup," Zurg told her. "Now why don't you be a good girl and let him go before you choke him to death? You wouldn't want me to put you back in that cell for killing one of my most loyal employees now would you?"

She definitely didn't want to go back into that cell with it's annoying Zurg theme. "Fine," she consented, letting go of Darkmatter. He fell to the floor, gasping for air. "But if we're going to be that way I want you do so something for me as well."

"and what would that be?"

"I want to bring Nimrod."

"Nimrod?" Zurg asked, looking confused. "Who is Nimrod?"

"The little insect that let me out of my cell," she replied. "I want to bring him along."

"What!? You can't be serious!"

"I am serious, girl hands," she replied, folding her arms. "If you don't let me bring him I'm not going anywhere."

"Why would you want to bring that Grub I mean Nimrod with you?" he demanded.

"It's kind of personal," she answered, smirking. "You understand."

Zurg honestly didn't. Why in the world would she want to bring a Grub along with her? She was a robot and acted like she didn't need anybody. So what was the deal there? It made no sense. Maybe she'd made friends with the Grub and wanted his company. "Okay fine," he said finally. "Whatever you want!"

Shadowstar was pleased. "Good," she headed toward the exit. "Then why don't you get him while I head out to the ship?"

Zurg waited for the door to close behind her before ranting. "Of all the nerve!" he shouted. "Demanding things of me! ME! The most evil being in all the universe!" he slammed his fist into the wall to blow off some steam. "Demands! Grubs! What next? All the hornets she can feast upon?"

"Well if you don't like her why are you having her go after Nos-4-a2?" Warp asked, getting up, his human hand rubbing his neck. "and just be happy she didn't demand hornets. I don't think you'd be able to deny her if she did, not with her temper."

"Because," Zurg replied, turning toward him. "I need her to take care of that no good ungrateful son of mine!"

"How are you even sure she'll be able to do it or follow your orders?"

"That's why you're here," Zurg reminded him. "If she disobeys orders I want you to shoot her as a reminder that she's working for me now and won't get away with insubordination."

"But she _doesn't_ work for you," Warp reminded him. "She's only doing this for you because she has her own vendetta against Nos-4-a2. It's not out of loyalty or because she likes you. She's doing what she wants either way."

The evil emperor waved him off. "Oh who cares as long as she takes him out!"

"Fine fine," Warp said, letting the matter drop. "If that's the way you want it." he turned to go.

"Before you go.." Zurg said.

"Huh?" Warp looked back.

Zurg pointed toward the cells. "Kindly go down into the dungeon and get that Cosmos' forsaken Grub so she won't start whining about it."

_She has you on a leash and you don't even know it. _ Warp Darkmatter headed toward the cells. "As you wish, Zurg."

"That's Evil Emperor Zurg to you!" the emperor shouted after him.

Warp rolled his eyes and smirked. "Whatever you say, Evil Emperor Zurg."

* * *

Sari couldn't stand to like him in the eyes for a long time because whenever she did a strange feeling came over her like he was trying to possess her. Just by the look on his face she knew whatever he was going to do to her was bad. She wasn't going to allow it if she could help it. The girl jerked back, freeing her face and turning her head away. When she did this he tried to hit her again but she ducked and avoided the blow.

Nos-4-a2 growled and tried to grab her arm. She shoved him back and got to her feet, stumbling over some robot parts as she dashed toward the wall. She heard him roar then looked over her shoulder and saw him coming after her. "You're not going to get away that easily!"

"Shut up, you stupid drunk!" she shot back. She turned her face forward and jumped over a pile of robot parts.

Something jolted and she suddenly felt her hair standing on end a second before she hit the floor. Startled, she looked over her shoulder. Nos-4-a2's right hand was glowing. He caught her eye and fired again. She dived to the floor, avoiding being hit by the bolts of energy. Two blue electrical rods of power hit the robot in front of her, overloading it and causing it to explode.

Sari gasped. _Whoa! That didn't even look right! I thought his plasma bolts were green. _

He fired at her again forcing her to get up and dash behind a large pile of robot shells. The robot's power cores exploded sending her crashing to the floor. She cracked her hurt knee against the pavement and cried out in pain. Nos-4-a2 fired at the shells again, blowing up the ones that had escaped the first onslaught. The explosive force knocked her onto her stomach, knocking the wind out of her.

"Okay," she said once she caught her breath. She got up and brushed her hair out of her eyes. "Note to see. Never tick off a robot with a hang over."

She heard the energy vampire roar and looked back toward him. He'd activated his wings and was flying toward her. "Oh no. Not this time," she muttered, getting to her feet. She looked around for a weapon. Thanks to his bite she couldn't access any of her built in weapons even the energy orbs. She didn't have enough power. She would have to rely on her brains and good old fashioned.. uh robot parts. Yes! Robot parts!

A dismembered arm caught her eye. She reached down and picked it up, hefting it to see if it was heavy or not. Just right.

She smiled to herself and spun around to face him, holding the arm like she would a baseball bat. He saw her weapon and laughed. "That's not going to work this time." he stated then raised his hand at shot another bolt of super charged plasma at the arm.

Sari's improvised weapon absorbed all the blue energy. It then coursed into her, electrifying her body. She screamed in agony until she let the arm go and fell to her knees, her entire system warning her of an overload. If she didn't release that energy into something quick she would blow up. Her eyes focused on the energy vampire coming toward her. Him, she'd release it into him. Maybe if she did he'd blow up or something and she would be able to get away.

Moving quickly, she got to her feet and lunged toward the robot. When he saw her coming his eyes widened in surprise. "Wha-"

The rest of his sentence was cut off when she slammed into him, knocking him out of the air and into the ground. Sari's eyes were bleeding more of that strange glowing blood and the irises had vanished completely, as she reached up and rested her hands on his chest, releasing all the energy he'd sent at her back into him. His whole body lit up like a torch and he screamed in pain, grabbing her arms and trying to pry themn off. She held on tight, her body also lighting up as the energy coursed through her then into him then back into herself in a repeated cycle.

There was too much! Way too much!

_This isn't right! He didn't hit me with all of this! What's going on?_

Images flashed through her mind. Memories off when she'd gone into overload after getting her upgrade. This energy was coming from her! She must still have a fragment of the Allspark in her or his foolish move had caused that little problem to flare up again. No matter the reason it hurt, it really hurt.

Nos-4-a2 was screaming at her. "Stop it! STOP!" he couldn't process her energy if he didn't injest it first. It was like being hit with a laser, only the energy was going back inside the host as well as overloading him. "I CAN'T TAKE IT THIS WAY!"

Sari's body was turning white. Everything inside her was going crazy and she couldn't control it. She looked him right in the eye. He was overloading just like she was. If she died she would take him out with her. But she didn't want to die not here, not in a strange universe with only Prowl and a crazy vampire as her acquaintances. _I can't die here! I won't die here! Not because I was shot by a stupid energy vampire. _

But how could she prevent her death or his for that matter? Ratchet wasn't here to hit her with an EMP generator which would lower her power levels and end the crisis. There was only Nos-4-a2...

She didn't have another choice.

"BITE ME!" she yelled at him.

Nos-4-a2 stared at her, startled. He'd never heard anyone _beg_ him to drain their energy before. "Wha-" another painful jolt cut him off before he could finish the question.

"Bite me, you stupid vampire!" she screamed, looking him right in the eyes. "If you don't we'll both die!"

Well he didn't want to die, not after being brought back for a third time around. He let go of her hands and grabbed her head instead, pulling her down toward him until her neck was close to the vicinity of his mouth. Then he leaned forward and bit into the same spot he'd bit into before. Instantly all that energy coursed into his systems where it stabilized and powered down to a more bearable level. For two minutes straight he kept this up until Sari stopped glowing and returned to her normal colors. Then he let her go though part of him wanted to keep it up, her energy was just too tempting to stop. But he knew he had to. If he drained anymore he really would overload. Plus he was already starting to feel that strange drunkenness again and didn't want a repeat of what had happened last time. He'd rather be buzzed than out of his mind.

The girl sighed in relief and fell limp, her body draping over his. She was panting heavily as if she was exausted. He put a hand on her side and pushed her off. She fell limply onto her back. He sat up and looked down at her face. She was still conscious but weak, her eyes were open halfway and she seemed to be watching him, waiting for him to do something. He realized he could do anything to her right now and she wouldn't be able to put up a fight back.

But.. he chose not to. It wouldn't be very fun to fight with someone who didn't have the strength to put up a resistance. So instead of beating her up or hitting her, he picked her up in his arms and flew back over to his coffin where he rested her body gently on the bottom then closed the lid before she could protest.

He then sat down on the top and sighed, resting his head against his hands and trying to get a grip of what had just happened while he fought that tipsy feeling.

Had she just... saved his life?

* * *

Prowl looked into yet another dark alley in the Trade World shopping district, hoping to catch sight of more empty robot shells. Nothing. Just like all the rest. The trail had gone cold.

"Give it up," XR said, watching the cyber ninja close a dumpster with a slam. "Whatever dead robots might have been there are gone by now."

"How do you know that?" Prowl asked, looking back at him.

Until then the space ranger robot hadn't said a word. He's just followed Prowl around and stewed because he couldn't get to recharge like he wanted to. He honestly wasn't much use in that mode and he'd started getting on the cyber ninja's nerves with his pouty silence. At least this was a welcome change from brooding silence.

The robotic space ranger wheeled toward the Autobot, moving out of the way of a green skinned alien pushing a hot dog cart. "Because either the local authorities found it and added it to evidence or the body was stolen and is now being stripped for parts."

The Autobot was horrified. "Who would do such a thing?"

"This is Trade World, buddy," XR replied, folding his arms. "It could be anyone. This place isn't exactly home of the Boy Scouts, you know."

"I know." Prowl sighed and stepped out of the alley into the sunlight. He looked up at the sky, noting the position of the sun. It was still morning. It felt like he'd been searching for hours. Hs systems were beginning to let him know that he should recharge soon, even if it was just for a few minutes. But how could he sleep when Sari was in the clutches of an energy vampire? If anything else happened to her he'd never forgive himself. It was bad enough he'd let her get kidnapped in the first place but now she'd been bitten and he had no idea if she was still alive or not. He allowed himself to think she was, it was a lot easier than thinking she was dead.

He looked down at XR. The robot hadn't even wanted to help him keep searching, that had been Buzz's idea. Prowl felt bad because it wasn't even XR's problem though he was responsible for Nos-4-a2 flying off with her. But he couldn't blame him, especially after what he'd told him earlier.

Still...

"If you want to join the others at the hotel you can," Prowl said.

XR stared at him. "What?"

"I know you're tired and didn't really want to help me search anyway so why don't you join the rest of your crew back at the hotel?" the cyber ninja suggested. "It won't bother me if you do. I wanted to search for her by myself anyway."

XR seemed to be considering his proposition then shook his head. "I can't do that," he replied.

"Why not? I thought you wanted to recharge."

"I do but I can't leave you out here by yourself," the robot space ranger informed him. He pointed into his face. "Buzz was right. You _don't _know your way around here and we can't chance you getting lost too and becoming a snack for Nos-4-a2." he shook his head. "You wouldn't be of any use to anyone, especially Sari if that happened. Plus he's not the _only _person you have to worry about on this planet."

"What do you mean?"

"Well let me just say that you're not exactly the average machine," XR explained. "Nobody has ever seen a robot that looks like you or can do what you do." he poked him in the stomach. "If you're not careful you might wind up on somebodies list of things they want to own."

"Are you saying I might become a person of interest?"

"Well duh." he waved his hands around. "Remember how the LGMs reacted when they saw you? They wanted to take you apart to see how you worked. If that didn't clue you in I don't know what will."

Prowl didn't comment. He honestly hadn't thought about that at all. He was so worried about Sari that the prospect that he might become a target of a different kind never crossed his processor. "Ugh, why did you have to tell me that?" he asked, rubbing his head which had begun to ache with this new piece of knowledge. "I already have enough things to worry about so as it is."

"Hey, I'm just giving you a warning," XR responded. "I figured you might as well be made aware of this before you run into trouble. Not that you can't take care of yourself, mind you. I've seen you fight. You'd be able to deal wiht anyone who tried to grab you, provided they don't figure out your weaknesses."

Prowl gave him a look.

"What?"

He started to speak but then it happened again. His entire frame was envoloped in pain. Screaming he fell onto the floor, grabbing his arms and curling up into a ball. It was worse this time. He felt like his entire system was going into overload.

"Prowl!" XR shouted, wheeling around him and waving his arms. He tried to help him up but got a shock. "Ow! What? Another attack? now!? Come on, buddy! He can't be eating her this early!" the space ranger robot noticed people staring. "Nothing to see here," he shouted to them. "He's just a little overloaded he'll be fine in a minute."

A little? Prowl felt like his processor was going to explode. He lay on the ground a little longer then his neck started hurting again. He yelped in pain, grabbing at the spot. Then... it ended. All the pain was gone. _Huh?_

He lifted his head and looked around, his optics locking on the alien beings staring at him. "I..," he began then coughed. He got ahold of himself and tried to get up saying. "I am fine."

The people seemed to decide to take his word for it and went back to their own business. Prowl turned his attention away from them and looked over at XR who looked worried. "What happened?" he asked.

"I think," Prowl replied, getting to his feet with some help from the other robot. "Something went wrong."

"How do you mean?"

"That pain couldn't have been caused by the energy vampire biting her," he replied, rubbing his neck. "I think she might have.. he might have." he shook his head. "Forget it."

XR wasn't going to let him off that easy. "No," he said. 'Tell me what's wrong. What happened?"

"I can't," the cyber ninja replied. "I can't explain it. Something just didn't feel right."

"Do you think Nos-4-a2 killed her?"

"No!" the Autobot snapped, his voice so loud he made the other robot jump. "She's not dead! If she was I would have felt it!"

"Okay," XR said, backing off. "I'm sorry."

Prowl didn't want to talk about it anymore. "Come on," he said , starting to walk away. "Let's keep searching."


	20. Chapter 20

CHAP 20

"What took you so long?" Shadowstar demanded, turning her seat around in Warp's ship. She glared at the blue skinned man. "I said I was in a hurry."

Darkmatter made a face. "Well I had to take a detour first," he replied, putting his hand behind his back. "You wanted us to bring somebody along so I had to get him." he pulled out the Grub she'd dubbed Nimrod. "Is this the add on passenger?"

"Nimrod!" she said, getting up and walking toward the man to retrieve the creature. "I'm happy to see you."

"Nimrod?" the Grub asked, looking confused.

"Yes," she said, taking him away from Warp and heading back to her seat. "I named you Nimrod." when she saw the look on his face she demanded. "What? Do you want me calling you insect?"

"No," he replied, sounding offended. "But _Nimrod_?!"

"It suits you," she replied, looking away. "Don't question it."

The Grub didn't think it suited him at all. "Nimrod?!"

She ignored him and sat back in her seat. "Who cares what your name is?" she muttered. "Just be happy I'm keeping my promise."

He stared at her in surprise. "Huh?"

"You heard me," she growled. "I'm keeping my promise now shut up, blue boy is coming."

The Grub fell silent as Warp joined them at the controls. He sat down in his chair and fired up the engine. "Okay, hold onto your servos, Shadowstar," he said, looking at her and grinning. "Here we go."

"Just lift off already," she said impatiently.

He gave her a mock salute. "Will do!" then turned the ship toward the sky and and took off, piercing the atmosphere in a matter of seconds and leaving planet Z far behind.

* * *

_She did save your life, you realize. She could have let you both blow up. How would you like that? You seem to have a thing for exploding._

_It was her fault it happened in the first place! She shouldn't have run!_

_She had a good reason to run, you know. You were going to kill her. I would have run too._

_I __**wasn't **__going to kill her._

_Then what __**were **__you going to do?_

Nos-4-a2 shook his head, scattering his thoughts. Why was he thinking about this anyway? It was stupid. He didn't have time to think about this especially now.

He pushed himself off the lid and hovered beside it, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. His hangover was worse, no thanks to her. He shouldn't have fed so early after being overloaded. But he hadn't had a choice. If he didn't she would have killed him. But he wondered what had caused such a reaction. Surely it wasn't because of what he did. After all. He'd been aiming at the thing she was holding, not the girl herself. He hadn't expected that power to go coursing into Sari's body. But it had and caused that weird little episode.

_Stupid girl, _he thought, glancing at the coffin. _Stupid little brat. _Maybe he should have hurt her after draining her energy enough to stop the overload. It might have taught her a lesson. Yes, he should have done just that!

So why hadn't he? He couldn't think of a good answer. So he decided the reason he hadn't done that was because if he had he might have killed her and he didn't want to kill her, not yet. Her energy was still at a high level and he wanted it all for himself... even if it was bad for him.

He looked back at the coffin. He could practically smell that energy. It was so other worldly and tempting..

"Ugh not right now.." he said to himself as another stab of pain hit his hardrive. "First you have to get over the first wave. You can't just keep on biting her, even if her energy tastes lovely."

The energy vampire activated his wings and flew toward the exit. He had to put more distance between himself and her before he lost all restraint and bit her again.

But..

He paused. _I can't leave her here without making sure she can't get away. _he hovered, his gaze pointed down at the coffin where she lay. He couldn't chance her escaping while he was gone. That wouldn't be good. He would have to do something about that before he left. Surely he could control himself until then?

_Yes._

With that decision in mind he dived back toward the coffin. _I can't take any chances._

But before he opened it again he flew over to some robot shells that were more or less intact and opened up their chest compartments, reaching inside and yanking out their wires. They were dead anyway so they wouldn't be needing them anyone. Once he was done he turned back to the coffin.

* * *

That little ordeal with Prowl's link with Sari had made the cyber ninja's balance way off and thus he became clumsy. Unable to stay standing he tripped over his own feet and fell, slamming into XR whom he knocked over as well.

"Whoa!" the robot explained, trying to keep his balance.

Too late. Prowl was heavier than him so he couldn't prevent it. He hit the pavement with Prowl landing on top of him. "Hey!" XR shouted, turning his head to glare at the Autobot. "Would you mind getting off of me?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," the Autobot said, getting up. He stood and rested his forehead against his hand. The processor ache he'd gotten after the incident was getting worse and his head would not stop pounding. "I didn't mean to do that. I just don't feel very well at the moment."

"What's the matter now?" XR asked, getting up and wiping himself off. He'd landed in a puddle and his front chassis was stained with stale oil that had leaked from a hot dog card that had been pushed past them a few minutes ago. "Ick! How am I going to get this off?"

"I'm sorry." Prowl shook his head. "It's nothing," he replied. "Don't worry about it."

"Oh sure." XR rolled his eyes. The robot space ranger had begun to realize that Prowl always seemed to have a problem and never liked to admit it to anyone, which, to be honest, was kind of annoying. "Stop acting like you're a macho-bot or something!"

Prowl looked at him, startled. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," XR said, giving him a long, hard look. "You have a million different problems and you're always keeping them to yourself. When people want to help you're all like "I'm fine. It's none of you're business. I'm going to openly show that I have a problem to get attention then act like I don't want it." Enough already! Just tell me what's wrong or I'll give you something to be in pain about." as he said this he pulled out his mallet and threatened the Autobot with it. "Don't make me use this on you! I haven't had a chance to try it out and you're starting to become the perfect specimin to try it on."

Prowl stared at him, his mouth hanging open in disbelief. This robot was serious! "Don't do that," the cyber ninja ordered, stepping out of range of that mallet.

"Then you tell me right now what your problem is!" Xr ordered, wheeling toward him and shaking the weapon under Prowl's nose. "Stop being such a crater head and just be honest!"

"Okay fine!" Prowl said, dodging back when XR swung the mallet at his head. "I'll tell you, just put that thing away before you hurt someone!"

"That's better." XR put the mallet away then folded his arms and said impatiently. "Now get talking."

Prowl sighed then said. "Okay fine here it is. That last attack didn't do well on my systems."

"I can see that." XR commented.

"Well yes." he shook his head. "Forget it."

That mallet came out again and he whacked at Prowl's hand which was rested on the lid of a dumpster. The black and gold Autobot yelped and pulled his hand away. "I said cut that out!"

"Sorry, but you gave me no choice."

"You didn't have to do that!"

"I did to! Not explain yourself before I hit something else!" he grinned, waving the mallet around. "I know you don't want that."

For a moment there was a silence then Prowl said. "To be completely honest. I don't feel well. Whatever happened to Sari was so bad the link between us made it happen to me too." he sat down on the ground, resting his head in his hands. "I think I might need to run a systems diagnostic." he glanced over at XR. "If it's something seriously wrong I will need somebody to repair me as I can't do internal repairs myself."

"Why not?"

"I'm not a medic," the cyber ninja responded. "That's Ratchet's job.

"Who is Ratchet?"

"A medical Autobot trained to repair damaged Cybertronians."

"Oh so he's like a doctor."

"Something like that, if doctors know how to reattach heads to decapitated bodies." the cyber ninjas leaned against the wall and began to run the system diagnostics. "Just give me a few minutes."

XR sighed and leaned against the wall with his arms folded. Like he had a choice. _This is going to take awhile._

So he decided to take a short nap while the Autobot tried to repair his errors. Powering down his optics he fell into sleep mode rather quickly. But he had only been sleeping for maybe two minutes when the sound of voices brought him back to full wakefulness. His optics flared to full brilliance and he turned his head toward the sound. There were two of them. Both male. They sounded like they were having some sort of conversations about... robots?

"I'm telling you if we don't bring in some quality parts soon he's gonna have our heads," the first speaker, one with a rather low voice, said. "I know that energy vampire is good for business but can't he drain some machines with better parts?"

_Vampire? Are they talking about Nos-4-a2? _

"Hey it's not like we can tell him what to feed on or not," the other speaker, this one with a much higher voice, responded. "Do you know where he lives? We can't just go there and talk to him about it, you know."

"You're right," the first agreed. "He's not even aware that he's helping us with- hello what's this?"

They had stopped close by maybe even behind him.

XR looked toward Prowl. He saw two aliens with pointy ears and yellow skin peeking into the alley, their large multi-colored eyes locked onto Prowl who was still in the middle of system diagnostics and therefore unaware of everything in the real world.

"Whoa! Is that a robot?" one, the taller of the two, asked the other. XR was surprised to hear the high voice coming out of his mouth.

"Sure looks like it," his short partner, who owned the much deeper voice, replied. "But that's the strangest robot I've ever seen."

"Yeah," the first one commented, stepping into the alley. He knelt over the Autobot and looked at it's face. "Sure is weird looking." he noticed the Autobot symbol on his chest. "Whoa. What's that thing there?" he pointed at it.

"I don't know," the short one responded also getting a look at the symbol. "It looks like some kind of face."

"A strange face." the tall one waved his hand in front of Prowl's face. "Hello! Anybody home?"

The cyber ninja didn't respond. He just kept on staring straight ahead with a blank expression.

"Maybe it's broken," deep voiced shorty suggested.

"Or maybe he was bitten by that energy vampire and lost all his energy." the tall one leaded sideways and got a good look at Prowl's neck. "I don't see any bite marks, though."

"So this one wasn't vampire boy's snack," the short one concluded, nodding his head. "So then.... what's wrong with it?"

"I dunno maybe it's just broken," his comrade responded. He grinned. "If it is broken then I guess nobody will care if we take it."

Uh oh! This was bad. XR was going to have to do something before those two aliens decided to take Prowl away to use for spare parts. "Come on, Prowl," he pleaded. "Finish your scan already!"

But Prowl wasn't likely to finish that for a few more minutes and by then it would be too late. Which meant.. "Oh craters." he reached into his drawer and pulled out one of the gun from his grand arsenal. "I guess this will work." he wheeled around the dumpster. "Freeze you robo thieving scumbags!"

Startled, the aliens turned their heads toward the speaker. When they spotted XR, hefting a gun almost as big as himself, they freaked, falling into each other to put space between themselves and the white and green robot. "Hey! What's this all about!?"

"You were going to try to steal that machine right there!" XR responded, gesturing toward Prowl, without moving his gun. "That robot is property of Star Command!"

"Star Command?!" the aliens looked at each other then back at the robot space ranger. "That robot is-"

"That's right," XR confirmed, nodding his head. "Now if you don't want to face arrest for stealing of private property you will just step back the way you came and forget you ever laid you multi-colored eyes on it."

"Hey we didn't mean no harm or anything," the short one said, stepping back, his hands up in surrender. "We were just looking at it. We never intended to take it or anything."

"Oh really?" the robot demanded, raising an eyebrow. "I distinctly heard you say that you were going to take it somewhere. That doesn't sound like you were just looking at it to see how it worked."

"Well uh... we were just uh.. it was a joke!" the tall one exclaimed getting to his feet and moving away. His friend followed his example. "We weren't serious."

Xr started charging up the gun. "Really?"

The aliens took off.

"Yeah that's right run from XR Robot Ranger," the robot said, grinning and putting the gun back into his drawer. "I love doing that. gets them every time." he looked over at Prowl. The Autobot was still out of it. "Hey!" he shouted, tapping on Prowl's forehead then snapping his fingers. "Are you done yet? We don't have all day you know!"

Prowl's optics flickered then brightened. He stared at XR. "What?" he said, sounding groggy. "What happened?"

"You almost became spare parts of a black market guru that's what happened," XR told him. "Luckily I was able to chase those part nabbing hooligans away."

"Huh?"

"Oh nevermind," XR said, turning away. "Let's just get going." Prowl got to his feet and followed. "By the way," he added. "What did you find?"

The cyber ninja's expression said more than his answer. "More than I thought I would."

_Uh oh. This doesn't sound good._

* * *

"_Sexy vampire,_

_I'm falling in love_

_So just bite me baby_

_And drink all my blood."_

"Will you shut up!?" Shadowstar shouted, turning her head to glare at Warp Darkmatter who had been the one singing.

Darkmatter was sitting back in his chair with his feet propped up on the control panel and his hands intertwined behind his head. "Why?" he asked, looking over at her. "Don't you like it?"

"No!" she snapped, her optics flaring. "I _don't_ like it." she kicked his leg. "What did I say about calling me sexy, and get your feet off the controls!"

"Why do you care?" he asked her, grimacing as he rubbed his sore leg. "How do you even know I was talking about you?"

"Because I'm the only vampire in the ship!" she shouted.

"That still doesn't mean I was talking about you." he looked away and grinned. "You sure are vain. Not every song is about you."

"Speak for yourself." she folded her arms and turned away from him, focusing her attention on the black void of space. _It looks the same no matter what universe you're in. _she sighed. _No that's not true.. nothing about those stars has the feeling of the universe I was created in. They're strangers, strange stars. _

"Hey," Warp said, bringing her out of her thoughts. She looked back at him. "Now that we're no longer on planet Z why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?"

"Why do you want to know about me?" she demanded.

He shrugged. "Just call it curiosity." He really did want to get to know her. There was something about this female robot that he found attractive.

She looked away. "It's none of your business."

"Oh, don't be like that," he said. "You can tell me. I won't tell Zurg. I promise."

She laughed. "Your words mean nothing to me, flesh bag. Don't bother pressing your luck I might just get angry and punish you."

His response was a little unsettling. "I'm not sure I wouldn't mind that."

She glared at him. "Don't be too sure."

He smirked. "I _am_ sure."

She bared her fangs and hissed.

He frowned. "Okay fine, I'm sorry." his eyes fell on the Grub in her lap who had fallen asleep awhile ago. "So why did you name him Nimrod?"

"Because it fits," she said shortly.

"Riiight. Why did you want to bring that Grub anyway? You make friends with him or something?"

"That doesn't concern you either."

He looked away again. "You're sure snappy," he commented. "Can you at least try to be polite?"

"I'll be polite when you stop bothering me, flesh bag." she retorted, making an annoyed face and folding her arms.

"Ugh fine." he looked away again, his expression telling her he was ticked off. "Sheesh. No wonder you don't have any friends."

"Oh I have friends," she told him, smiling wickedly. "and compared to them I'm the happiest person in the universe."

"Somehow I doubt that."

"I don't care what you doubt." was her answer. "You have never met them so you wouldn't know."


	21. Chapter 21

CHAP 21

Hands. She remembered hands moving all over her and shifting her body around. She didn't want to be touched but she couldn't keep it from happening. She didn't have enough energy to stop it. After that she blacked out because she didn't have enough energy to fight anymore.

When she opened her eyes sometime later she was staring up at a dark, green lid. She turned her head and discovered she was lying down inside the energy vampire's closed coffin. _No! _she panicked and kicked out, slamming both feet against the lid. It snapped open easily, revealing the dark gray ceiling. She calmed, breathing in stale air.

He hadn't locked it.

She remembered how she wound up there too. Nos-4-a2 had to drain her energy to keep them both from blowing up then he'd picked her up and set her down in his coffin. She didn't understand why he'd done that instead of hurting her but she was grateful that he hadn't. Even if her neck was sore and she felt like she'd been climbing a mountain.

Speaking of the vampire. Where was he anyway? Was he still down there or had he gone some place?

When she tried to sit up to get a look around she found out she couldn't move!

_Huh? _

Sari tried to move her arm to get a look at it but couldn't. In fact now that she thought about it she realized both of her arms were behind her and had been that way for awhile. They hurt like crazy and something sharp was cutting painfully into her wrists. Same with her ankles.

_That stupid vampire tied me up!_

So the energy vampire wasn't taking any chances. He was going to make sure she couldn't even attempt to get away while he went off and did things. She doubted he wanted to spend all his time in that lair, keeping an eye on a girl he didn't even like. He wanted to do what he did without the risk of his current food source getting away. But.. where did he go?

_I bet he went out to prey on other helpless machines, _the girl thought. _Ones who can't fight back and will make easy prey._

Yeah that made sense but why would he feed on other machines when he seemed to have a thing for her own energy? Thanks to her, other forms of sustenance might seem stale in comparison... Right?

_Cut that out! Don't get so big headed about it! _she shook her head. Why was she thinking that sort of thing anyway? Did she _want_ him to only feed on her? _Of course not! That creep has no right to be feeding on my energy. I only let him that one time because if I didn't I would have died. It's not like I __**wanted **__him to do it again, I just didn't have a choice._

Well, now wasn't the time to be dwelling on that. Now was the time to be thinking of a plan to get away. But how was she going to get out now with her hands and feet tied? "Ugh, he sure thought this through.." But maybe she could still get out of this, after all, she'd seen enough escapes in bad gangster movies to know what to do.

Tucking her legs up to her chest she thrust her arms under them and then over. Now they were in front. She smiled. "That was easy." She then sat up and started working on the wires binding her ankles together. "Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe he's not as smart as I thought."

* * *

XR stared up at Prowl, unable to make any kind of comment. The cyber ninja had found a problem, no! many problems? This wasn't good. It was bad enough they still had to find the girl but now the Autobot was in trouble himself?! "You can't be serious!"

"I am afraid I am," Prowl responded, looking unhappy. "and I don't like it any more than you did."

"You've been having problems since you collapsed at Star Command," XR pointed out, pacing. "When we recharged you it seemed to help."

"I know," the cyber ninja replied.

"Maybe you just need another recharge?"

"I don't think that's going to help this time," he stated. "I don't get why this is happening or what exactly is causing any of it. If I had to guess I would say it's this universe. Something about it is making things complicated." he shook his head. "But this problem has nothing to do with the universe or its strange side effects or my power levels. I can do something about this. But not now."

"But if you don't deal with that problem now it will just get worse," XR told him.

Prowl thought about that statement for a moment then looked down at the robot space ranger. "You think you can repair it somehow?"

XR blinked, surprised by such a suggestion."What?! Me?!" XR backed up, waving his hands and shaking his head. "You can't be serious."

"I _am_ serious," Prowl told him. "If you want me to get this taken care of as soon as possible you will have to repair me."

"I.. but.. I don't know how!"

"If you can repair yourself you can repair me."

"But my repairs aren't ever internal!" the robot space ranger protested. "I usually just fix my body when it gets blown apart. The LGMs are the ones who do the systematic repairs."

"Well there's a first time for everything and you know as well as I do that I can't do it myself. I can't see inside myself and none of my error repair systems are doing the job they're supposed to." Prowl winced then said. "So.. either you do it now or we wait until we're back on Star Command and I don't know when that will be."

XR knew he didn't have a choice. The last thing any of them needed was to carry around dead weight and if Prowl went offline he would be dead weight in every sense of the word. He sighed. "Okay fine," he consented. "I'll try it. But if I come across anything weird I'm going to stop the entire process." he poked Prowl's chestplate. "Your systems are different than mine so who knows what kind of weird things are in your motherboard."

"Don't worry about that," Prowl replied, sitting back down. "The only thing you have to avoid touching is my spark."

Oh yes, the spark. XR had totally forgotten about that. "I'll be careful."

"I hope so." the ninja said, dimming his optics. "I'll go into sleep mode while you work. It will make things easier. Just please be careful about my spark."

_Yeah, right. Like sleeping will make things any less complicated. _"I won't touch your spark." Prowl by then had gone into sleep mode. XR waved his hand in front of his face. "Hello?"

Nothing. He was out for now. XR was tempted to pull out a marker and draw on the Autobot's face to teach him a lesson for forcing this on him but he resisted the urge and carefully rested his hand on the ninja's chest, finding a small switch that made the plating open up, revealing the entire internal system. XR ignored the pulsating spark and scanned the rest of the motherboard, looking for something to plug himself into. He found a tiny slot. Ah there.

_This feels so wrong. _XR thought, pulling out the USB cable and plugging himself in. _Ugh. I hope I never have to do this again to a male robot. _This kind of thing never bothered him when he was plugging himself into a computer but Prowl wasn't a computer but a robot himself. If it hadn't been for the little fact that he didn't have a choice he never would have done this. "If I get sick later on I'm blaming him. What does he think I am anyway- Hey, what's this?" he'd found the problem or what he hoped was the problem. He wasn't used to Prowl's type of internal hardware so it was a little hard to figure out what should and shouldn't be there.

This thing was green and glowing and looked like a virus. "I hope it's a virus. I wouldn't know what to tell him if I accidentally removed whatever it is that lets him speak English." he focused on removing it. "If he wakes up speaking Swahili it won't be my fault."

As it turned out it was a problem but not the only one. As soon as he had gotten of it he found more. "Craters."

* * *

Sari's feet where finally free. Now she focused on her wrists, bringing them up to her mouth and biting the wires holding them together. Unlike the ones binding her ankles, these were more of a problem because she had no other way of removing them besides her teeth and that didn't seem to be working. The only thing she was accomplishing was hurting her jaws.

_Rats!_

"What are you doing?!"

Sari jumped. She'd been so intent on freeing herself that she hadn't heard the energy vampire return. She looked up to see him hovering over her with his wings out and his arms folded. He didn't look happy. She also noticed he seemed kind of tired around the optics. Either way she could tell he wasn't thrilled at seeing her attempting to escape and still had his hangover.

"I.. uh.. I was uh..," she stammered, trying to think of a good excuse.

"I know bloody well what you were trying to do, Little One." Nos-4-a2 cut her off. He cocked his head, noticing her unbound ankled. "You were trying to escape," he stated in a flat voice.

"I- No I wasn't!" she protested. "I was just changing position because my arms were hurting and-"

"You had to change position by untying your ankles?" he demanded, hovering closer. "Pardon me if I have a hard time believing that." he pointed at her. "You're just lucky I'm still not feeling well otherwise I'd punish you for such a foolish attempt. Don't you realize I won't allow you to leave this place?"

"I don't care what you won't allow me to do," she growled. "You're not my boss."

He grinned a grin that unnerved her. "Not yet anyway."

"What is that supposed to mean?" she demanded angrily.

He came closed. "Do you really want to know, Little One?" he questioned her. "Because once I tell you you won't be able to do anything else without my orders."

_What is he- _she jumped, her eyes widening in fear. _Of course! Why didn't I realize it before? He's a vampire. Every vampire I know of has done of things to every victim its bit. It turned them into it's slave. _she knew that first hand from Prowl's experience with Shadowstar but that control had been caused by a virus not whatever caused other vampires to turn people they bit into vampires. _Does he? Oh my gosh!_ Now that she'd been bitten by him he could make her his slave any time. So why hadn't he? What was holding him back?

"The answer is simple," he said as if reading her mind. He reached forward and put his hand under her chin, tipping her head up so she could look him right in the eyes. "If I make you my slave it'll take all the fun out of draining your energy. If you became my servant you wouldn't put up any kind of resistance if I bit you. Now where's no fun in that? I prefer my food spunky. It adds flavor to it."

"You disgusting freak," she shot back.

He seemed amused by her words. "No more disgusting than a machine who takes the form of a human being," he stated. "Tell me; why would you choose such a body structure?"

"That isn't any of your business."

He laughed. "Well you don't have to willingly tell me. I can find out no matter what you say. It's not that hard." he raised his hand and touched her forehead. For a few seconds the girl's eyes turned red and her expression changed. After a brief moment he moved his hand away, breaking the brief hold he had on her will. Her eyes returned to their normal blue and she blinked confused. He frowned. "Hmm.. interesting."

"What did you just do?!"

He grinned again. "That my dear, doesn't concern you."

But it did. She felt violated as if something that was all her own had been taken from her. "No! You did something! What was it?"

"Do you really think I'd tell my food what I did?" he asked her, letting her face go and moving away. "Just shut your mouth and save your words and energy. I wouldn't want you moving around too much and wasting my dinner."

"You don't have to worry about that," she grumbled. "It's not like I cna go anywhere anyway."

* * *

XR found the right error. It was dangerously close to the important components inside the cyber ninja's systems so he had to carefully work on fixing it. Even though he wasn't nearly done he was just glad he's finally found it after all that system drudging he'd gone through. It had been so hard to figure out what was not an error and what was because, as he said before, the Autobot had different components that the machines he was used to. _Okay, Autobot. Let's get this taken care of so we can continue our search. Craters, why does this guy always have to have some kind of system's malfunction? You'd think a robot that's been around for millions of years would know how not to get bugs. I guess wisdom really doesn't get better with age. _

Suddenly something weird happened. The green colored error shot out two other errors. These errors, working as a sort of auto defense, came right at him. XR freaked, jerking away and unplugging himself from the port. He fell back, slamming against the dumpster. It was only then did he realized that he was no longer attached to the other robot. "Whoa! What in the nebula was that?! Obviously something doesn't want me to repair it." he moved back toward Prowl menacing his blank face with the USB cable. "Well I'm gonna get rid of it even if you don't want me to, you freak." he grinned somewhat maniacly. Bring it on!"

"Whoa, lookie here! Now I see why the little bot wanted us to leave the other one alone. He was in a relationship with it!"

"Huh?" XR looked up, startled by the voices. He saw that those yellow aliens from earlier had returned. They were watching him and grinning like idiots. "What are you doing back here? I told you to beat it!"  
"Well we were going to beat it," the short one responded. "Then we realized that if we returned to our boss without bringing any robots or robot parts we would get in trouble. So we up and decided we would go back and get your little boy toy here."

"Boy toy?" that's when XR realized he'd plugged himself back into Prowl's port. He quickly yanked the cable out and stuffed it back in the drawer. _I knew this would happen! Stupid Autobot! My reputation is ruined now! _"Hey you got it all wrong," he told them."I prefer organic females."

"Yeah sure whatever," Short and deep said, stepping toward him. "I don't care. Just hand over the robot and nobody will get hurt."

"The only one who will be getting hurt around here is you." he reached into his drawer and pulled something out. Only it wasn't a gun. It was a banana. "Why in the world do I have that thing?!"

The two aliens laughed mockingly then the taller one stepped toward him.

"Hey, stay back!" XR shouted, throwing random things out of his drawer in hopes of finding a gun. Why was it he could never find a weapon when he needed it? What happened to the one who'd been using before? Finally he gave up and went into a real funny judo pose. "I know Kung Fu! Move away and nobody will get hurt!"

The aliens laughed again. "Don't worry," the taller said hefting what looks like a metal pipe. "We won't. But you will."

The blow took the robot space ranger completely by surprise. He was hit head on, the force of the blow cracking his helmet and front chassis before he was knocked back against the dumpster. He grunted in pain then fell to the pavement. Moaning, he tried to get back up but a foot smashed down ont his back, preventing him from moving at all.

"Now you just stay there until we're done," Tall and squeaky ordered, leaning all his weight onto the small robot.

"Do you think I'll obediently stay here and let you do what you want?" he asked, pressing his hands against the pavement and trying to push himself up. "I don't think so. As soon as you let me go you're both going to regret it."

"I think he's serious, Marve," the tall one said, looking at his partner.

Marve looked annoyed. "Of course he is," he responded. "He's a Space Ranger."

"So what are we going to do about him?" the tall one questioned.

Marve rolled his eyes and grabbed onto Prowl's shoulders. "We're going to take him with us."

"What?!" XR exclaimed, startled. Things were just getting worse and worse. "Now you don't wanna do that. I have partners and once they find out what you did they're going to come running and teach you both a lesson."

Marve grinned wickedly. "No they won't," he said. He looked at his partner. "Hal why don't you put the little robot out of his misery?"

Hall was all too willing. He hefted that pipe thing again and aimed it right for XR's small yellow head. THe last thing the robot saw was a round piece of metal flying toward his face.

* * *

Nos-4-a2 was making Sari clean up his lair. He'd made a deal with her for the time being. If she cleaned up his other victims, he wouldn't tie her up or feed on her. Well at least not at the moment. The techno organic girl didn't want to do either but she would rather clean up spare parts than become his dinner. So she agreed. Now she was carefully piling the trash in the left corner of the room while the energy vampire watched.

Oh, he wasn't acting like he was watching, but she knew he was. She could feel his optics boring into her face, just waiting for her to try something. Like she would. Not with her power levels where they were. She couldn't even open her hands much less activate any of her weapons.

_Stupid energy vampire, _she thought, picking up another robot part and stacking it onto the other severed heads. _Like he even gave me a choice. _

Sari moved away from the pile, looking the parts over. So far she counted at least a dozen robots he'd made meals of. Their blank eyes stared back at her. They made her nervous so she turned away and returned to her task. Those heads reminded her that her current fate wasn't any better. Right now she was on the menu and would be until she wound up like the others. _That's not going to happen, _she told herself, collecting severed arms which were remnants from the fight she and the energy vampire had had. _I don't care what he thinks, I'm not going to stay this way. Prowl and the others will come and get me before that happens. I know he will. _But if that was true why hadn't he saved her yet? What was taking him so long?

_He doesn't know where to look, _she told herself. _That's why but he'll eventually get a clue. Something will come along and give him all the information he needs. Prowl's smart. It won't take him long. Argh! If he's going to drain robots why can't he clean up his own mess instead of letting it get this bad!_

Of course there was another problem as well. Since Nos-4-a2 bit her he could chose any moment to make her his servant. What if the others came to save her and he forced her to attack them or something? She just hoped he the thought never crossed his mind when the time came.

_Who am I kidding? Of course it will. he's not an idiot. _She looked over at the energy vampire. He locked eyes with her and smiled evily. She looked away, disgusted. _What I would give to be able to smash in that smug little face of his. If he wants a slave he can find it somewhere else. This girl isn't playing by those rules. _

Her stomach growled, startling her out of her revere. She jumped, nearly dropping the parts. One of them slipped out of her hand and banged onto the floor. Nos-4-a2 looked at her. "What was that?" he demanded.

"Nothing," she responded, looking back at him and smiling nervously. "I uh.. just dropped something."

He studied her for a moment, weighing her answer, as if trying to decide whether to believe her or not. Finally he said. "Well pick it up and don't do it again."

"Roger." she turned leaned over and picked up the arm. "Yes master, no master. Whatever you say master."

"Enough with the attitude!"

"I am sorry!"

_Rats! Why did I have to be reminded now that I haven't eaten in a long time? _She walked over to the pile and dropped the parts onto it. They made a lot of noise and Nos looked back over at her. When he saw the reason for the noise he looked away again and continued doing whatever it was he was doing. She didn't want to know.

"I mean it's not like that creep would care anyway," she muttered stepping back and moving to clean up some more parts. "If I told him he'd probably just laugh at me and say it isn't any of his concern and be like: 'Jolly good. pip pip cherio'." she snickered. "Yeeh he probably would. After all I'm not a guest or anything. I'm a prisoner. bad guys don't exactly cater to their prisoners. If they did that wouldn't be evil. They'd be police officers or something. But.." she glanced back at him. "Maybe I can convince him that feeding me is a good idea? Yeah. I could tell him that if he wants to feed on my energy longer he has to get me something to eat to make it rise. Then, once I'm fed and my power levels are normal, I'll break his face in."

That sounded like a plan. Now all she had to do was convince him that it was a good idea as well. That would be a chore but she was confident she could do it. With that in mind she turned back toward him and yelled. "Hey, Nossy!"


	22. Chapter 22

CHAP 22

XR's optics flickered on sometime later. He found himself lying on his back, staring up at a dark blue ceiling. His face hurt like crazy. "Ugn," he moaned, sitting up and rubbing his head. "I feel like I was blown up, then stepped on by an elephant, then run over by a car, then put back together and had the same cycle repeated ten more times. Ow! Where am I?" He looked around himself, noticing the boxes of spare parts and robot shells littering the floor. For a moment he thought he'd been nabbed by Nos-4-a2 and taken to his lair but then the memory of what happened in the alley came back and he knew that wasn't the case, not that the real reason was any better. "I can't believe I allowed myself to be taken advantage of like that," he grumbled. "Stupid aliens. Why didn't they just mind their own business?"

But now that he knew where he was there was one other problem. "Prowl!" Where was the Autobot? Was he there or had they put him somewhere else?

He scanned the room, hoping to spot something black and gold. The place was so dark that he had a hard time making out anything. What if he wasn't there after all? What if they put him somewhere else? No, he couldn't allow himself to consider that option. He had to find him.

_I don't know how I'd explain that to Sari or Buzz for that matter. Craters! Why do these inter-dimensional travelers always get themselves into trouble? It's like they need baby-sitter's or something. Well I never asked to be an Autobot's care taker. _

Finally his optics settled on something that could be the cyber ninja. It was lying on the floor, stretched out. "Prowl?" the robot space ranger stood up and wheeled over to the Autobot cyber ninja. "Hey, buddy!"

When he came upon him he realized the robot ninja was still in stasis and couldn't react at all. "Oh sure," he said, his expression that of annoyance. "You get kidnapped and you don't even wake up long enough to save yourself or me for that matter." he sighed. "That mode you're in must be set for a certain action. You're really making things hard for me, you know that?"

Just then he heard footsteps coming toward them. XR panicked and wheeled quickly behind some boxes. A few moments later three figures stepped into the room. XR recognized two of them as the yellow skinned aliens who'd tried to steal Prowl. He knew the third person too. The Fixer. That guy he'd tried to buy a new AFD from.

"Craters," he cursed. "I should have known I'd run into him again."

"All right let me see this robot you're talking about," The Fixer said, as grumpy as ever.

"He's over here," the alien named Marve replied, leading the Fixer over to where Prowl was lying.

XR ducked behind the box as the three drew near. The moment the Fixer laid his eyes on Prowl his countenance changed. "Whoa!" he exclaimed. "Where did you find him?"

"Oh he was just lying around," Hal replied. "When we saw him we figured you might want to get a look at it."

The Fixer stepped closer to get a better look at the Autobot. He studied it a moment then said. "I'll take him."

_Uh oh! _this wasn't good.

"Excellent,. Good choice." Marve replied. "Now if you'll just pay us the money you already owe we'll give him to you."

"I don't have it with me right now," the Fixer replied, looking helpless. "Can't I pay you afterward?"

"Nothing up front and no robot," Marve replied. "You either have the money or you don't."

"It's bad at my place."

"Then why don't we just pop down there and collect it then?" Marve asked, smiling weirdly.

It was obvious he wasn't going to win this. The Fixer knew he had no choice. If he didn't pay, he wouldn't get Prowl and he really wanted that robot! He nodded. "Okay fine."

"Good."

They left.

Once he was sure they were gone, XR moved out of his hiding place and over to Prowl. "Come on, Prowl," he said, snapping his fingers in front of the Autobot's. "Now isn't the time for taking a nap. You gotta wake up now or those goons will sell you to that guy."

That's when he remembered Prowl wouldn't reactivated himself until that error was fixed. That meant XR would have to go back inside and try once more to repair it. He didn't want to do that, not after what had happened last time. "But I don't have a choice." he whined, putting his hand on the sides of his helmet and shaking his head. "Oh why do I always get stuck with such rotten luck?"

Moaning about the hopelessness of his situation he opened Prowl's chest plate back up and reinserted the cable. He found the virus. "Thanks to you my reputation is ruined," he complained to it. "I hope you're happy. I'm not in a good mood right now so I'm going to take it out on you." He then dealt with the problem the best he could.

A short time later the error was repaired and he sighed in relief, glad that it was all over. At that moment Prowl's optics brightened and he stared at XR who was standing over him. "Hi!" XR said, waving at him. "I fixed the problem."

Prowl looked at him a moment then looked at XR's cable. "If that's true mind doing me a favor?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

"Get that thing out of me!"

* * *

Nos-4-a2 heard the robot girl calling his name and turned to face her. "What do you want?" he asked.

"I'm hungry!" she replied. "When are you going to feed me?"

"_Feed_ you!?" he demanded. "Why would I want to feed you?" What an absurd question.

"Well, do you want me to _starve_?"

"I don't care what happens to you," he informed her, glaring at the girl. Who did she think she was? The Madame President of the Galactic Alliance? "You're here to feed me, not the other way around!"

"I know that," she replied, folding her arms. She smiled at him, a rather smug smile, as if she knew something he didn't. "But I thought you _liked_ my energy and if you drain it all and don't bother attempting to make it last longer you'll use it up rather quickly plus," she added, pointing a finger into the air to make a point. "If you really intend to make me your slave you'll want me at near full power." her smile became a smirk. "A _weak _slave wouldn't do well against Space Rangers and Autobot cyber ninjas."

Nos-4-a2 didn't respond. He let himself process what she'd said. She was right, darn it! If he didn't get her something to eat she'd run out of energy faster and by then he was slightly addicted to it and it would be a shame to lose it so soon. It would be a good idea to make it last. "You're right," he agreed, pushing off the coffin lid and activating his wings. He flew over to her. She didn't even flinch, interesting. He reached her and put a hand on her chin, lifting her face so he could see it better. "I _wouldn't _want a weak slave. So fine. I shall get you something."

_Success! _"How about a hot dog?" she asked.

"Hot dog?!" he exclaimed. "Robot's don't eat hot dogs."

"This one does."

He frowned. He almost commented on that then remembered the information he'd taken from her mind. Her kind of systems worked on organic foods. He wasn't sure how it worked but it seemed to cause no ill effects. "Fine. Whatever. But before I go." he removed his hand from her chin and touched her forehead. "I will leave you with your free will but you won't try to escape. You will keep on cleaning until I get back. Understood?"

Something told her she didn't have a choice. "Yes," she replied, frowning.

She wasn't happy which made him happy. He smiled. "Lovely." then he turned away and flew up to the exit.

She watched him go then returned to her task. "It's not like I would want to climb up that steep wall again anyway."

* * *

XR yanked the cable out of Prowl's chest and put it back in his drawer. "Sorry about that," he said, unable to look at the other robot. "It was the fastest way to get inside and it was your idea to have me fix you and-"

"Forget it," Prowl said, not wanting to talk about it anymore. It was making him uncomfortable as much as it was for the other robot. Instead he changed the subject, looking around himself. "Where are we anyway?"

"We're inside a warehouse," XR replied. "and we never would have wound up here if you hadn't decided to have me fix you!"

Prowl frowned. "I distinctly remember you saying I should have the errors repaired as soon as possible," he pointed out. "I honestly wanted to wait and I told you that."

"Well-" XR stopped realizing the cyber ninja's statement was correct. "You're right," he admitted. "But either way this never would have happened if you didn't have so many problems. You're like a out of date computer. So full of errors that it's almost pointless to keep fixing it up but, since you've had it so long you don't want to get rid of it because of sentimental value."

The cyber ninja obviously didn't like being compared to a broken computer. "I can assure you that I am nothing like an old computer." The cyber ninja sat up and looked around. "What is the point of this place?"

"To store stolen robot parts that will later be sold in the black market," XR replied.

Prowl looked back at him. "Stolen robot parts?"

"Yeah while you were out two no account low lives decided to make you the next hottest item on the black market." the robot space ranger looked toward the door. "and they already have a buyer." he grabbed Prowl's arm and tried to haul him to his feet. "Which means we had better get going before they-" he heard footsteps coming. "Too late!" he wheeled behind Prowl and pushed him up. "Come on, Prowl! Don't make me do all the work!"

"Careful!" Prowl grabbed the edge of a crate and straightened himself up. "I can do it myself." He looked toward the door where the footsteps were coming from. "Hmm.."

"There's no time for hmm!" XR whispered fiercely, extending his legs so he could grab Prowl's arm. He yanked on it, trying to get the cyber ninja moving. "Come on before they see us!"

"I'm coming," the cyber ninja turned away and followed XR further back into the building. "But how are we going to get out of here when the exit is back that way?"

XR looked back at himn and smirked. "Don't worry about it," he replied. "I've been through enough sitautions to know there are always two exits in these places. That's just the front door." he pointed ahead. "We're going out the back."

But before they got very far a voice shouted to them. "Hey, where do you think you're going!?"

They looked back and saw the yellow aliens and the Fixer coming toward them. They didn't look very happy.

"So much for stealth," XR said. He shot forward, not even waiting for the cyber ninja. "Run!"

Prowl took off after him, not wanting to be left behind with an angry black market customer. _Maybe I should have waited for the others after all._

* * *

_Hot dogs. Hot dogs. _Nos-4-a2 brooded over the girl's choice of food. It bothered him that this girl, who was obviously a robot, ate organic food to energize herself. It made no sense to him but nothing about that girl really did. From what he'd learned her origins were never researched. But who cared? He wasn't interested in her back story. He was only interested in her unique and tasty energy. And if he wanted that to last he had to make sure she lived longer. _Though it's kind of overdoing it just for energy. I must be getting soft. _

_Or you're just addicted to it. _

Or that.

He looked down toward the busy streets below. It was the middle of the day so there were plenty of people out and doing stuff. Nos never went out during the day because he hated the sun. Since he was a machine he didn't really have to worry about burning up in it but that didn't change his opinion on it. It was annoying and impaired his vision. Plus it made him a better target for space rangers or stupid bounty hunters out to make a name for themselves. _Hot dogs. _

His optics focused on something that could be hot dog cart. The sign on the roof helped too. It said: HOT DOGS in big bold letters.

He grinned. Success! He wouldn't have to search all day. Now the only problem was getting the food without drawing too much attention. An alley close to the stand looked promising. Changing position he dived down into it and deactivated his wings. Hopefully nobody saw that. Maybe he wouldn't be recognized if he went out there without disguising himself and the guy working at the stand would think he was just an ordinary robot. _Like an ordinary robot would want to eat hot dogs. _he thought ironically. _That doesn't exactly agree with our systems. _that thought flashed him back to his hanger over. It wasn't a pretty thing to think about.

Nos moved to the end of the alley and peeked out. A woman and her kid were at the stand. They paid for their dogs and walked away, munching away. Once they were gone Nos exited the alley and headed over to the card. "Pardon me," he said, vying for the man's attention. "You there!"

The man working at the cart, a nerdy looking fellow with short brown hair and big, hirn rimmed glasses, turned to the energy vampire. "Yeah, what do you want?" he asked, sounding crabby.

Nos pointed at the food. "I'd like some of those," he answered. _What's with the timid voice, Nos? You sound like a nervous, runny nosed, human brat. _

The kid stared at him. It was obvious he'd never had a robot asking him for food before. "Why do you want them?" he asked him. "Don't you robots drink oil or something?"

"They're not for me," the energy vampire replied, thinking quickly and not really wanting to explain himself to this geek. 'They're for a human.. friend.. of mine."

"Uh huh," the kid stared at him a moment longer. "Well whether that's the case or not I don't serve robots."

Things weren't going as smoothly as he thought. "Why ever not?" Nos asked. This guy was making things harder for him and he was starting to notice people staring. "I eman what's the harm in serving a machine?"

"Because those are the rules, bub." the kid looked like he was angry that Nos was asking him such a question, as if he should already know the answer. "Ever since this giant robot with weird upgrades stupidly decided to scarf down three then blew out his internal pump, the boss made a rule that we can't serve robots."

"Oh come on," Nos said, starting to get annoyed. "I told you they're not for me."

"Whether they are or not I can't give them to you. Now if you brought this person over here, I would gladly serve them to him."

The energy vampire wasn't about to bring Sari out there. He didn't want to risk her getting away. "I can't do that."

"Then no hot dogs." the kid started to turn away but Nos slammed his hands down onto the counter, regaining his attention. He looked back at the energy vampire.

Nos-4-a2's wings came out as he leaned toward the kid. "You will give me what I want," he growled dangerously. "and if you don't I will make sure you never serve anything else every again!"

* * *

Prowl and XR slammed the exit door shut the moment they stepped out of the warehouse. They heard a thunk on the other end as if something heavy had impacted it. Prowl looked down at the space ranger robot. "Hmm it seems people here are stranger than I thought," he commented. "That sounded like those creatures slammed their bodies against the door.."

"They did."

"That must have been painful."

"Well it's not our problem anymore." XR turned away and wheeled toward the sidewalk. "Let's get out of here before they break out and try to capture us again."

The cyber ninja looked back toward the door. He was a little worried about the people being hurt but he didn't want to become somebodies' property as well. He'd already had that happen to him before and didn't like it. He saw the wisdom in the other machine's words and moved to follow him.

Once they were on the sidewalk Prowl transformed into vehicle mode. Though he was much smaller, thanks to whatever had caused him to shrink down, he was still big enough to hold a small robot. "Hop on," he ordered.

XR made a face. "I'm not going to ride you," he stated. "You've ruined my reputation enough already, this will only make it worse."

"How did I ruin your reputation?"

"You-" he stopped himself. The situation was too embarrassing to say out loud. "Forget it. But I'm still not going to ride you."

Prowl started to reply but was cut off by the sound of a door bursting open. Both of them heard running footsteps and yelling. "You're not going to get away with my property!"

"On second thought who cares about my reputation?" XR jumped onto the seat and grabbed onto the handlebars. "Let's get out of here!"

The cyber ninja needed no second bidding. Revving up his engines he tore off down the street, leaving their pursuers in a cloud of smoke. "Whoa!" XR yelled, holding tightly to the handlebars so he wouldn't go flying off. "Slow down! I'm going to go flying off!"

Prowl slowed to a more conservative pace. "Sorry," he apologized. "I was just trying to put as much distance between us and them as possible."

"Well I don't think you'll need to worry about that anymore," XR said, looking over his shoulder. He could see that Prowl had already put them far behind. "I don't think they'l be able to find us now."

For a few minutes Prowl said nothing and they rode in silence then he spoke again. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For this happening," he said. "I should have listened to Lightyear and waited."

"So now you're realizing this," the space ranger robot responded, frowning. "Well you're the one who was too stubborn to listen. Now you're just beginning to realize your mistake? I told you-"

Prowl put on the brakes suddenly, nearly throwing the robot off. "What was that?" he asked.

"What was _what?" _XR demanded, his front end sprawled over the handlebars. "Mind warning me the next time you do that?"

"I apologize."

Then the cyber ninja transformed without warning XR. The space ranger robot wound up with his arms wrapped around the ninja's neck. "Don't do that!" he shouted, his feet wiggling in mid air. Suddenly he heard a roaring sound and his annoyance with Prowl became less important. "What was that?" he asked.

The cyber ninja turned his head. "I think that's it," he said, pointing.

"Huh?" XR turned his head in the direction indicated. What he say made him say; "What in the world? I can't be seeing what I think I'm seeing."

Nos-4-a2, his wings activated and his fangs bared, was grasping the end of a hot dog cart and roaring at the poor worker inside the stand. "You will give me them!" he was yelling as he banged the cart against the pavement. "Or I will take them!":

Prowl cocked his head. "Why is he harassing that organic?"

"I don't know," XR said, letting Prowl go and dropping to the pavement. "But I don't think it's because he's hungry."

Something came to Prowl then. He knew that Nos-4-a2, being a machine couldn't eat human food. Which meant he was getting it for somebody else. Somebody who was a machine but could also process organic matter. "Sari!" he exclaimed

XR looked at him. "Sari?" he asked. It was obvious he wasn't following the cyber ninja's train of thought. "What about her?"

"He's getting the food for Sari," Prowl responded.

"Then that must mean she is still alive."

"Yes," the cyber ninja responded. That bit of knowledge made him feel relieved. "Which means if we follow him we'll be able to find out where he's taken her."

"Or we can just capture him and make him tell us," the other robot answered. "and personally I like my idea better." he wheeled forward, pulling out two guns before Prowl could stop him.

"But-" Prowl started to say then gave up. XR wasn't listening. He slapped his palm against his forehead. He was being just like Bumblebee again. _Way too much like Bumblebee. Going into a situation without thinking it through first. I wonder how often he does this kind of thing? _ "This won't end well."


	23. Chapter 23

CHAP 23

The guy working at the cart was beginning to freak out. This robot was serious. "Okay fine," he said, quickly getting some hot dogs ready. He didn't want to face this crazy machines' wrath. "Do you want a bag for them?"

Nos's grinned. Now they were getting somewhere. "If you don't mind," he said, grinning evilly and leaning closer, invading the kid's space even more.

The kid put the hog dogs in a bag and handed it to him with shaking hands. "Here, no charge," he said trembling.

"Why thank you," Nos said, taking the bag. "How very generous of you."

Suddenly a bolt of plasma hit his hand, nearly making him drop the bag. Nos let out a roar of pain and turned his head, wanting to get a look at anyone who would dare to shoot at him. His optics focused on XR who was toting two guns like someone from an old Western movie. "Freeze, vampire!" he shouted. "In the name of the Galactic Alliance, you're under arrest! Put down the dogs and give yourself up!"

Nos-4-a2, instead of surrendering, roared at XR then lunged. XR's optics widened. "This I wasn't expecting. AAAAAHHH!"

Before the vampire could grab or bite him Prowl tackled robot space ranger, knocking him to the ground. Nos flew over their heads and into the air where he took off, not looking back. He still held the bag of food.

"He's getting away!" the space ranger shouted, watching him fly off. Prowl, who was on top of him, looked down at XR, his expression totally unhappy. "What?"

"You're not making this any easier," the cyber ninja said, getting up. He looked angry. "I was hoping we'd be able to follow him back to his lair, not play cop!.Did you really expect him to tell us anything with that stunt?"

"It was better than your plan!" XR shouted.

Prowl ignored him and lifted his head and searched the sky for the robot. He could just barely make him out because by then he was far away. "Now he's getting away." he activated his jetpack. "I hope we can still track him from this distance. No thanks to you."

"Hey, don't blame me!"

"I _am _blaming you," the cyber ninja snapped, grabbing the other robot's arm and shooting into the air. "Because _you're_ the one who shot at him."

* * *

"No."

"What do you mean 'no'?" Warp Darkmatter demanded, looking at her and frowning. What was she saying that for? "I didn't even suggest anything!"

Shadowstar turned her head to glare at him. "No, but you were thinking it," she stated firmly.

"What, can you read minds now?" he questioned.

"No," she answered, folding her arms and giving him a look. "I can just tell when somebody is about to say or suggest something stupid."

"How would you know it was stupid if you don't even give the person a chance to say it?" he shot back.

"I can tell."

"You can not!"

"Fine then," she said, leaning toward him. "Tell what you were going to say and let me be the judge of whether it was stupid or not."

"I was only going to suggest that maybe before we got to Trade World if you wanted to take a quick detour and, you know, do something?" he replied, sounding as if such an idea wasn't anything to get upset about.

She growled and leaned closer, invading his space further."I will say this once and only once," she hissed, grabbing the arm rest of his seat and crushing it under her hands. "I do not like being hit on by organic creatures, especially annoying ones with big egos." she lifted a finger and poked him in the face with it. "So if you want to keep that head of yours attached to your shoulders, you will stop trying to get under my plating!"

"So I guess that's a no then," he said, cowering under her glare.

"That's more than a no, flesh bag," she stated, her optics flaring angrily. "That's a 'not on your life'!" she moved back to her seat and stared straight ahead, brooding. _Crazy organic. What's with him anyway? Can't he take a hint? _she glanced back over at him. _He looks like one of those annoying womanizer guys that thinks no is yes, only shorter. _She resisted the urge to kick him again just to make a point. If she did that he might think she was flirting.

_Yuck!_

He looked at her and grinned. She made a face and looked away. _Yup. It went in one ear and out the other. _ she slumped down a bit and glared darkly out the windshield. _Stupid being. Stupid stupid being. That Zurg guy did this on purpose! He just wants to get revenge for me not liking his music. That has to be the reason for why he dumped this pea brain on me, not because I don't know my way around this galaxy. _That made sense to her. _Yes! That must be it! Once I get back to that planet with that stupid wannabe I'm going to tell him a thing or two about his sense of humor, because it's not the least bit funny._

"Hey, Shadow," Warp said.

"What?" she snapped, looking back at him.

"Do you like the Beatles?"

* * *

Sari placed the finally piece of robot parts on the pile then stepped back to survey her work. The pile was so high it reached over her head like a mountain. For a moment she considered climbing it and trying to escape the lair but decided against it. The mess would just fall down if she tried that.

She smiled to herself and turned around, taking in the much cleaner space. The room actually looked bigger without robot parts littering the floor and now she could finally see the floor which wasn't all that pleasing to the eyes to begin with. Ah well. Nos-4-a2 had told her to clean up the junk, not to criticize his choice of living space. "Not that his bed is any netter," she commented, walking over to the coffin in the middle of the room. Without the parts it seemed to take longer. "He sleeps in something that should be under the ground, not sitting out in the open." she giggled to herself. "It's kind of silly placing a robot vampire in a coffin. Not even Shadowstar stooped to vampiric stereotypes this much."

The techno organic girl reached up and touched the coffin. "I for one wouldn't want to sleep in something like this. It would make me claustrophobic." she smiled and gave the casket a thump. "It wouldn't bother him much. He's a robot after all. He doesn't _need_ to breath."

_Not that real vampires breath either. _

She lifted her head and gazed longingly at the exit. "Speaking of robots, I wonder when Prowl's going to get me out of this?"

_He's not. _a voice in her head replied. The voice of doubt. _If he wanted to save you he would have been here by now._

"That's not true," she protested emphatically. "He just can't find me easily because he doesn't know where to look. But he will. He always has."

_How many times are you going to tell yourself that?_

"As many times as I have to." she sighed and looked away. "Even if it takes a long time. Prowl would never give up on me. He's my friend."

_A friend who abandoned you._

She shook her head, trying to make the voice go away. Where was this doubt coming from? She had no reason to be thinking that way about Prowl. Her always came to save her. She remembered when he'd gone all the way to Dinobot Island to get her away from Meltdown.

_Even if he did run away when he could have saved you. _that voice pointed out.

_I already discussed this with you! He's got a reason for doing that and when he saves me he'll explain why he did such a thing._

_If he comes to save you._

_When. _she insisted stubbornly. _Not, if. When. _

A noise alerted her. She raised her head and looked up at the exit which was so far out of her reach just as Nos-4-a2 came flying in. For a moment he hovered there, scanning the room as if he expected her to be gone. When he spotted her he dived down at her. As he got closer she saw the look on his face. He wasn't happy. _I wonder what gave his fangs cavities?_

When Nos reached her, he thrust the back he'd been holding into her hands. "Here," he said, angrily. "Here's that food. I hope you're happy. I went through a lot of trouble to get it for you."

Sari opened and bag and looked inside. She saw two hot dogs that looked like they'd been tossed around inside a drier lying on the bottom. "What did you do to them?" she asked.

The energy vampire glared at her. He gone out of his usual characterization to get her this and she was complaining because it wasn't perfect? Who did she think he was?! Nos-4-a2 was tempted to take that bag out of her hands and dump the contents over her head but he resisted the urge because it wouldn't be in character for him. "Just be happy I got you anything, brat," he growled, folding his arms and making a broody face.

Something told the girl it hadn't been easy, as he said he'd gone through a lot of trouble to get them. This realization actually gave her a very sick pleasure. It served him right if he had trouble. He deserved it. "Well it mustn't have been too bad since you got my food." she pulled one of the hot dogs out and licking her lips in anticipation. Even if it did look like it had been in the middle of a battle it was food, real food. _I just hope it doesn't taste like bugs or something. _She was a little cautious about the food in this universe thanks to Star Command's funky menu. _Well at least it's not lima beans. _

She bit into the hog dog. It tasted normal. She smiled in satisfaction and continued munching. Nos-4-a2 watched her with a disgusted look on his face. She could tell he thought her choice of fule was gross but he wasn't any better. After all he fed on robots and doing that wasn't exactly the most clean choice of feeding either.

_After what I've been through it's almost not worth it just for energy, _he thought to himself. _Maybe I should just drain the rest and get this over with. _But he couldn't do that. If he did he might go offline from an overdose. _Blasted tasty energy! Why does it have to make me act that way?!_

When Sari was finished she wadded up the bag and tossed it over her shoulder. It hit the floor with a papery clatter. She noticed an annoyed look cross his face when she did this, but chose to ignore it. Why was he so upset she threw her junk on the floor? He wasn't the neatest person either!

"By the way, in case you haven't noticed I finished cleaning, master," she said sarcastically.

"I noticed," he said, looking unamused by her tone. "At least you're useful for other things besides food."

She folded her arms and glared at him. "You know you're not going to get away with this," she stated. "I'm not going to be here forever and be your food. Prowl will come for me and you're going to regret it."

"Such bravado from dinner," he said, unimpressed. "Let me tell you something, my dear. If this Prowl wanted to save you he would have been here by now."

"He just don't know where to look," she insisted. 'Once he finds your trail he and the space rangers come for me and teach you a lesson in manners!"

He laughed at her statement and moved away. "I doubt that. I've had run ins with Lightyear before and the only thing I've learned from that was to not repeat the same mistakes over besides if they did come here I wouldn't be the one to fight them." he grinned. "That's what I have you for, my dear."

"If you think I'll fight my friends you got another thing coming."

He moved toward her again. "I am afraid you won't have a choice," he stated. She started walking backward as he moved closer, trying to keep some space between them. She hated when he did this. "You know how it goes. Once a vampire bites their victim they can make that being a vampire slave."

"I-if that's true why haven't you done it yet?" she challenged, trying to keep her voice from trembling.

"I don't have any use for your powers yet," he responded. "Right now the only purpose for keeping you alive is your energy but I can assure you that if and when Lightyear and the rest of his party finds us and tries to arrest me I'll make full use of all your little powers." He grabbed a lock of her hair and lifted it up, twirling the end of the strand around his finger. "and don't think I won't. I know all about your powers and abilities."

She jerked away, losing her footing and falling back into the pile of robot parts she'd unwittingly walked into. He laughed as she scrambled out of the mess. "So let me just give you a little piece of advice; If and when that happens and I do decide to use you that way I wouldn't suggest resisting. It will only cause you unnecessary pain."

"Yeah, just keep wishing!" she yelled, getting to her feet. "I am not going to become your slave! No matter what you do to me!"

He shot her a pitying smile. "So young and so naive," he said. "When it happens you won't be able to stop it. There is nothing you can do, my dear."

* * *

Prowl and XR followed Nos-4-a2 at a safe distance as he flew over city. The cyber ninja wasn't going to allow himself to lose sight of the energy vampire even though XR was protesting and trying to distract him. By some divine miracle Prowl was able to keep him in view and watched as the vampire flew into what looked like a sewer pipe and disappear. "There!" he shouted, diving downward. "I see him!"

He landed on the ground outside the pipe and after letting XR go walked over to it and peeked inside. "He must have his lair down there somewhere," he stated, poking his head inside the entrance.

"He does like to hide in disgusting dark places," XR replied. "After al,l he's a vampire and woo. Hey!" he shouted when he saw Prowl starting to climb inside the pipe. "What do you think you're doing?"

"What does it _look_ like I'm doing?" the cyber ninja asked, looking over his shoulder at the space ranger robot. "I'm going to find him and save Sari."

"By yourself!?"

"Yes, Sari's my responsibility."

"You can't go in there by yourself!" he shouted.

"Why not?"

"If you go in there it'll be like you plastered a Bite Me sign on your chest," XR replied, his optics wide in horror. "Now why don't you wait until we contact the others and then we can all go in at once? Then you'll have back up."

Prowl shook his head. "I do better on my own."

"Oh, don't give me that!" he shouted. "Nobody does anything well by themselves. You need help."

"I can't chance any of you getting hurt because of my problem."

"Nos-4-a2 isn't your problem, Prowl," XR stated. "He's a part of our jurisdiction, not yours. So while saving Sari might be your top priority and mission, stopping Nos-4-a2 is mine and the rest of my teams."

Prowl stared at him. When XR got like this he seemed different.

The robot space ranger wheeled over and grabbed Autobot's arm, trying to pull him away. "Don't go in there half cocked and get yourself killed," he said "I don't want to explain to Buzz or Sari when we save her that you died from stupidity."

"I'm _not _going to die."

"How do you know that?" XR asked. "Can you see into the future? No, you can't! I don't know if you have a superior back in your own dimension but if you did I don't think he'd approve of what you're planning on doing either!"

_Why did you have to mention that? _Prowl wondered. He knew exactly what Optimus would have done if Prowl tried to pull the same stunt back in his own dimension. He wouldn't be happy. In fact he'd lecture him about it, telling him it was a very unwise decision and if he did it he'd regret it in the near future. The cyber ninja didn't like being reminded of this but it was too late now. _If your processor plugged into Optimus Prime's mind or something?_

"No," Prowl confirmed. "He would not like it. He would say it was foolish and I must have a death wish for considering such a stunt."

"You see," XR replied. "Even your own people wouldn't want you to do this."

"But what can I do?" the cyber ninja demanded, looking torn. "I can't just leave her there with him! He could do who knows what to her and I wouldn't know it."

"Yes, you would," XR responded. "You have that link with her. Whatever happens to her you'll feel so stop being so stupid. Are you feeling anything now?"

"No."

"Then that means she's fine," the space ranger robot confirmed. "Though I don't know how much longer that will last with Nos-4-a2's appetite but I think it would be best if you waited before going in. I'll contact Buzz and tell him where we are. When they get here then we'll go in and and save Sari. Okay?"

Prowl looked back toward the pipe. For a moment XR thought he would discard his advice go in anyway but instead he nodded his head slowly and said. "Okay. We'll do it your way."

"See that wasn't so hard."

"You're wrong there," the cyber ninja whispered, feeling as if his decision was betraying the girl he promised to protect. "It was the most difficult thing I have ever chosen."

* * *

Buzz woke to the sound of his commlink going off. At first he tried to ignore it by putting a pillow over his head but when the thing kept on beeping he decided it must be urgent and crossed the room where he'd set his suit on the chair to answer it. "Lightyear here."

"Buzz?" the voice on the other end was XR.

"Yeah," Lightyear said, annoyed that the robot had woken him up. He looked out the hotel window. It was still early. "This had better be important."

"Oh, it is," the robot replied. "We found Nos-4-a2."

That bit of news brought the space ranger into full wakefulness. "You have?" he asked, straightening up. "Do you have him in custody? Has he told you where he has taken the girl?"

"No to both questions," XR responded. "But we know where he is."

"If you know where he is why don't you go after him?"

On the other end of the line XR looked over at Prowl who was pacing in front of the sewer pipe. "That wouldn't be a good idea," he told him.

"Why not?"

"Because we aren't exactly prepared for it and we have no idea where in the system Nos is hiding," he explained. "I convinced the Autobot to wait until you and the others arrived before going in."

Something about XR's tone clued Buzz in on the situation. "Okay," he consented. "Good work." he got out of bed and moved across the room. "Don't go anywhere. We'll be there as soon as we can."

* * *

"Are they coming?" Prowl asked, stopping his pacing and turning back to XR.

"Yes," he responded, deactivating his comlink. "They'll be here."

Prowl looked back at the sewer pipe. He was anxious to go inside and rescue his friend but he knew he had to wait. "How long will it take?" he questioned.

"I don't know. However long it takes for them to get here." The space ranger robot noticed how edgy the cyber ninja was getting. Like any minute he'd discard good advice and go storming into Nos-4-a2's lair like a robot with a few screws loose. XR realized that the Autobot needed a distraction to get his mind off that. But what? He couldn't exactly suggest going somewhere until it was time to join the others. For one thing XR didn't know when they would arrive and for another Buzz told them to stay put and when Lightyear gave an order he expected it to be obeyed.

Even if one of the people in the group wasn't a member of the team.

Prowl stepped toward the sewer and looked inside.

"I really don't think that is wise," XR told him.

Prowl looked back at him, frowning. "I wasn't going to go inside," he replied, looking angry. "I was just trying to mentally make my way through it."

"Yeah _sure_ you were," XR said, wheeling over to him once more. "I saw the look on your face and your body language. You intended to break your promise." he grabbed his arm and pulled him away. "Now why don't you just sit over here and wait? The others should be here soon and I don't want to tell them that you went all lone wolf on us got yourself into trouble." it was obvious XR didn't like repeating himself.

Prowl allowed the smaller robot to lead him away from the entrance. "I don't want leave her there," he said, sitting down on the pavement. "I feel like I'm abandoning her."

"You're _not_ abandoning her," XR replied, joining him. "You're just being smart. Didn't you say earlier that the only reason you became the Shadowstar's vampiric slave was because you thought you could take care of her by yourself?"

The black and gold robot nodded, though he didn't quite get what XR was saying. That was different. He hadn't had the time to wait for the others to get there.

"You see that is what I'm talking about!" XR shouted, making the Autobot jump. "You do things by yourself and get into trouble."

"How would you know that?"

"It's a very simple thing to make a conclusion about," the robot replied, making a superior face. "Ever since we met you always seemed to have this air about you. This 'I want to do things myself' attitude." he paused for a moment. "You remind me of somebody else I know."

"Who? You?"

"No, not me," XR replied, glaring at him. "Why do people always assume I'm talking about myself all the time?"

"Because you usually are."

"Very funny. Very funny," the robot said, unimpressed. _I do not always talk about myself. _"Well I can assure you I'm not talking about me."

"Then who did you mean?"

"Buzz Lightyear."

"Buzz Lightyear?" Prowl asked, startled. "From what I've seen he seems comfortable working with the rest of you."

"He wasn't always that way," XR told him. " and he's had his moments, I could name a few right now but I won't, but he eventually came to realize that it's much better to work with other people than to do things himself, especially when it involved helping people."

Prowl was beginning to feel uncomfortable. He never liked being reminded of those things. "I'm better about it than I was," he told the other robot. "I used to be much worse."

XR smiled. "See, even an old robot like you can still learn things."

Prowl frowned, making it clear he wasn't happy by that statement. He wasn't _that _old! "I just hope the others get here soon," he said, standing up and pacing. "I don't want Sari to wait any longer than she has to." _and I won't let the same thing that happened to me happen to her. Not now or ever. _ He stared at his hand for a moment then clenched it into a tight fist. _This time I won't let my fear drive me away from the one I care about. I will do to the vampire what I had intended from the beginning. He's going to wish he had never taken her. I'll make sure of that. _


	24. Chapter 24

CHAP 24

_He was lying on the floor damaged almost beyond recognition. Much fluid stained the floor blue under his black and gold body body. She stood over him, a chain grasped in her right hand, smiling with sinister satisfaction. She'd finally gotten her revenge. This would teach him to make a fool of her. _

_"But this is only the beginning," she said, reaching down and grabbing his neck. She lifted his limp form off the floor. She heard him moan in agony. "I have more planned for you."_

"Shadowstar!"

The fembot vampire jumped, startled out of her dream. She blinked her optics on and looked over at Warp Darkmatter seated beside her. "You'd better have a good reason for waking me from a wonderful dream," she growled, unhappy he'd interrupted her sleep state.

For a second Warp looked like he was trying to picture what kind of dreams a sadistic female robot might have then seemed to change his mind about it. Instead he pointed out the window. "This is why I woke you up, Sleepy Beauty," he said. "Take a look."

Shadowstar turned her head and looked out the windshield. Below her was a planet. She had never seen it before. "Where are we?" she asked, suspiciously

"Trade World," he replied.

"Trade World." She stared at the planet. Somewhere on that world was that stupid legless energy vampire wannabe. She could already imagine grinding that machines triangular pizza face into the pavement. _Hes' not going to get the upper hand this time. This time I'm going to teach him who's the better vampire. _she clenched a fist, smiling as she fantasized just how she was going to punish him. First she was going to rip his wings right off his back then rip off his arms and maybe even drain his energy just to show him who was boss. Just thinking about it made her feel so much better. She began to look forward to the confrontation.

Shadowstar looked over at Warp Darkmatter. "Get us down there," she ordered.

Warp smiled. "Will do, princess."

"Don't call me princess."

"Whatever." he turned to the controls and typed in a new command. "Hold onto your hats this is going to be a bumpy ride."

* * *

Sari was getting that bad feeling again. She looked over across the room at Nos-4-a2's coffin. After telling Sari he intended to make him her slave and she didn't have a choice the energy vampire had gone into his coffin and closed the lid, intent on sleeping off the rest of his hangover. That had been an hour and a half ago.

Something told her he was going to be getting up soon and he would be hungry. She knew what that meant. Dinner time and she was on the menu.

"Not this time," she said to herself, testing out her powers. Now that the girl had eaten, she was able to open her hands and create an energy orb, though it didn't look as bright as before which meant she wasn't exactly at one hundred percent. She smiled to herself. "Good. It works this time." she looked over at the coffin. "Just you wait, creep. The moment you try to bite me again you're going to get a sphere to your head." she got up off the pile of robot parts she'd been sitting on and walked over to the casket and plan forming in her mind. "That'll teach you."

When she reached the coffin she paused to listen. Inside the box she heard him moving around. He was waking up. She ducked behind it and waited, her eyes locked on that lid. _Come on, open the lid and poke your ugly head out . _

A few minutes later the lid began to creek open. Sari tensed, anticipating the moment Nos-4-a2 would sit up and looked around. "Hurry up, creep," she whispered, beginning to create an energy orb between her hands. "I'm getting a cramp!"

She didn't have to wait much longer. Nos-4-a2 sat up and yawned, raising his arms above his head and stretching. He then turned his head and looked around himself. When he turned to where she was hiding she reacted.

Yelling angrily, she jumped out from behind the coffin and threw the orb at him, taking him completely by surprise. It hit the vampire square in the chest, knocking him backward and right out of the coffin. He crashed to the floor, too stunned to react in anyway.

Sari ran around the casket to where he fell and hit him with another orb. This one impacted his face. He yelped in pain, putting up his hands to protect his head against another blow. Sari didn't throw another orb. She came at him, activating her hammer and swinging it at him. She got him in the chest, cracking the metal plating. He roared in agony.

"How do you like it, vampire!?" she yelled, swinging it again. "How does it feel to be on the receiving end?"

But this time she never got to hit him. He raised his hand and grabbed the top of the handle, preventing her from scoring another. Sari's expression changed to surprise. "Huh?" How had he done that? She looked down, meeting his cold red eyes.

Nos-4-a2 roared at her, thrusting his body forward. She jerked back, off balance. She deactivated the hammer but couldn't prevent herself from falling over. She landed on her back. The energy vampire was getting up, his hand over his damaged chest. His optics flared with anger. "You ungrateful brat!" he screamed, activating his wings and lunging at her.

Sari rolled out of the way. He landed on the floor beside her. Nos spun himself around to face her, roaring incensively. She pulled herself into a sitting position and kicked him in the face.

He fell onto his back and flailed about like an upside down turtle. Sari got to her feet and dashed away before he could right himself. Her eyes stayed focused forward. Before her lay that pile of junk she's created.

"Don't get any ideas, little one!" Nos-4-a2 shouted, rolling onto his back and pushing off the floor. His wings caught the air and he was flying again. He went after her, intent on punishing her. "You're not going anywhere!"

Sari didn't make a come back this time. She continued on her course, her eyes focused on that pile of junk. She wouldn't need to climb it. That wasn't her intent. She had something else in mind. She could hear the sound of moving air. he was right behind her and catching up fast.

At the last second, before she would have reached it, she changed course. Nos, who was right behind her wasn't expecting that and couldn't copy the move in time. Unable to stop himself he flew head long into the junk pile. The impact sent robot parts cascading down onto the energy vampire, burying him under it. When the avalanche subsided Sari turned back to it. She couldn't see the energy vampire at all.

The techno organic girl walked over to the mess. She was going to make sure he wouldn't be able to get out. She had only taken a few steps when she saw that junk moving. "No!" she exclaimed the same instant Nos-4-a2, looking angry as hell, burst out of the mess.

He looked right at her. "I hope you didn't think that was going to take care of me, you stupid girl," he growled, moving toward her. "Because if you did, you're much stupider than I thought!" He flew over to her, catching her by the arms before she could flee. "So this is why you wanted me to get you food," he said, looking at her face and tightening his grip on her forearms so she couldn't even attempt to break his hold. "So you could try to escape again."

"No duh!" she shot back, her expression defiant. "Did you really think I _wanted_ to be your food for ever? I had this panned from the start! It's not my fault you fell for it!"

"How clever you are," he commented, his expression hardening further. "Too bad for you it didn't work out the way you intended."

Her eyes widened in fear as the meaning of his words sank in. He was going to bite her and this time he might actually kill her! _No! No no no no no!_

Sari reached up and grabbed his hands in an attempt to free herself from his grasp. It wasn't working and he just seemed to be enjoying her pathetic efforts. "Let go of me!" she screamed, beginning to panic. "Let me go or Ill-"

"Or you'll what?" he asked, leaning his face close to hers. "You'll kill me? No, my dear, I am afraid that will be impossible. If you really wanted to kill me you would have done so."

There were errors in that statement but she didn't bother explaining all of them. He obviously believed what he was saying even if it wasn't true. "Just let me go, please!"

""So now you''re saying please?" he asked, looking amused that she'd use those words. No, I don't think so." he lifted off the floor, taking her with him. When he was a few feet into the air he stopped and just hovered there as Sari struggled to free herself. "You see, you tried to kill me and I have no intention of letting you get away with it. I'm going to punish you. Now hold still."

"No!" she yelled, kicking at him but missing. She really didn't want him to bite her again. She didn't know if she'd be able to stand it. "Don't do this! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!"

"Too late." and then he bit her.

* * *

Buzz, Mira, and Booster joined Prowl and XR an hour after the space ranger robot had contacted them. They would have been there sooner but it took awhile to get everyone up because one of them was a real heavy sleeper and kept hiding their head under their pillow. That sleeper wasn't Booster.

"Jeeze Mira," Booster said as they lowered themselves to the ground. "How do you even get to work on time? You sleep like a log."

"At least I don't snore," she retorted, annoyed that he kept on going on about it. She'd already gotten an earful from Buzz, she didn't need another lecture from Booster as well.

Booster chose not to challenge that statement.

"Forget about that," Buzz said, looking at them. "Time to focus on the mission, people."  
"Right, Buzz," the other space rangers said, saluting.

"What took you so long?" Prowl demanded when the space rangers touched down. He walked over to them, clearly unhappy. "Did you decide to go out for ice cream or something?"

"Hold it right there, Prowl!" Buzz said, putting up his hand. "There's a perfectly good reason for us taking so log."

"What would that be?" the Autobot asked, folding his arms.

"We would have been here sooner," Booster spoke up before Buzz could explain. He cast a irritated look at Mira. "But a certain Princess didn't want to wake up."

"I said I was sorry!" she shouted. "Why can't you just drop it already?!"

Prowl's facial plating under his optics twitched. He looked like he was having a hard time holding his temper. "So you would rather sleep the day away than save somebody's life?" he exploded, glaring at her. "What is the matter with you?!"

The Booster, Mira and XR stared at him in shock, even Buzz looked taken aback by his sudden rage. "If you would rather sleep than save my friend then go right ahead," the Autobot snapped, pointing into Mira's face. "I don't care what you do! I only waited for you all because XR said it would be a good idea but now I'm beginning to wonder if that was wise because you clearly would rather be sleeping than helping people."

Mira' stared at him, unable to come up with anything to say. "I-" she began but XR spoke up instead, saving her from making any excuses. "Hey, now that's just going too far! It's not Mira's fault she's a heavy sleeper!"

Prowl turned on him. "You're only saying that because you have a crush on her," the cyber ninja growled. "To you she's perfect and can do no wrong."

Now it was XR's turn to be angry. "I do not!" he protested, extending his legs until he was face to face with the robot cyber ninja. "and if I did that's my business and not yours! What is your problem, buddy? I know you want to save Sari but don't take it out on us, especially Mira and I! We never did anything to you so stop acting like an idiot!"

"I'm an idiot now?"

"Yes!" XR poked his forehead, his own optics turning red as he vent his own frustration. "You're acting like a big idiot! You've been that way ever since you decided to run off instead of saving your friend when you had the chance!"

That was the wrong thing to say. Prowl shoved the robot space rnager away. "How dare you!" he yelled. 'I already explained why I did that! Now you're bringing it up again just to make yourself look like the better person! Well who could have prevented her from being taken anyway!?" Prowl stomped toward the robot and poked him hard in the chest. "You were paired up with her and you never even bothered trying to keep Nos-4-a2 from grabbing her because you are so afraid of that energy vampire that whenever you see him your courage circuits just seem to shut themselves off!" he shoved at him again. 'And you're calling me an idiot!? At least I don't run away from every battle I'm faced with and make excuses for it!"

"Are you calling me a coward, Autobot?!"

"I'm calling you more than a coward! I'm calling you a lily livered chicken!"

XR obviously had had enough of his character being assaulted. he pulled out a gun and aimed it right at Prowl's chest. "Why I oughta-"

"Whoa there!" Buzz cut in before things could get even more out of hand. He stepped between the two robot, pushing them away from each other. "What is this all of a sudden?"

"You know what is it," Prowl snapped, turning his rage on Lightyear. "How can you-"

"Hold it right there!" Buzz cut him off. "I know you're determined to save Sari but I highly suggest you control that temper of yours. Mira said she was sorry for taking so long to wake up so you should accept that." he pointed into the cyber ninja's face. "and questioning verbally abusing XR's character like that was uncalled for. I don't know if you do that to your own people but I won't stand around and let you do that here, understood." Prowl looked away, saying nothing. Buzz went on. "Also, if we didn't care about her we wouldn't be helping you rescue her, now would we?"

Prowl didn't want to admit it but. "No, you wouldn't."

"And yet we are here," he said. "Which means that we do care and we don't want her to come to even more harm." he put a hand on the robot's shoulder. "Since we're here why don't we forgot about this whole thing and just go down there and teach that energy vampire a lesson?"

Prowl nodded. "Yes." he clenched a fist. "Let's and I'm sorry."

And that's when, like bad karma, another empathetic fit came on.

* * *

Warp Darkmatter touched his ship down on one of the planets ship landing pads a half hour later. Once the machine was powered down he, Shadowstar, and the Grub the fembot named Nimrod disembarked. Once outside Shadowstar paused a moment to survey the city. Somewhere out there that other energy vampire was hiding. She clenched her fists at her sides, allowing herself another moment to fantasize of how she would take care of him. He would pay dearly for thinking he could best her and she would enjoy every moment of her revenge.

_Don't think I forgot about you, you legless wannabe, _she thought. _I don't forget things easily unless I want to. _a sadistic grin formed at the corners of her lips. _Tell me? Do you like S&M, because I do._

"Shadowstar." Warp Darkmatter's voice broke into her thoughts once more. She turned to him a little angry that he'd done such a thing even if it hadn't been intentional. "What?"

"We'd better get going," he said, handing the Grub to her which he'd been carrying. "We have a lot of ground to cover in a small amount of time."

She smirked. "Don't worry about me," she said. "I can get a lot of things done quickly."

"I don't doubt it," Darkmatter responded, folding his arms. "So then, shall we be going?"

"I was waiting for you." then she turned and started walking away without even waiting for him to follow.

"You sure are bent on teaching Nos-4-a2 a lesson, aren't you?" Nimrod the Grub asked her, looking up at the femme's dark face.

She looked down at the insect in her arms. "Of course," she replied, stopping and setting him down. She couldn't stand to hold the disgusting organic anymore. "He humiliated me and stole what was mine. I will not allow him to do as he pleases."

Nimrod seemed to think about that for a moment before asking his next question. "So what are you going to do when you find him?"

She smiled that sadistic smile. "Believe me when I say this, Nimrod, you don't want to know."

"Oh....."

"Hey, wait up!"

"Sparks, can he be any slower?' Shadowstar stopped walking and waited for the blue skinned alien to catch up, not bothering to turn around to see where he was. "Mind moving a litte faster, fleshbag? I don't have all day."

"Pardon me for not having a long stide," he shot back, annoyed.

"Just be glad I didn't fly away," she responded with. "Then you would never catch up with me."

"Look, lady," he said, clearly irritated. "Zurg sent me here to be your backup. If you leave me behind how am I going to-"

"I never asked for backup," she replied hotly, spinning around and facing him. "That was your boss' idea, though I know for a fact that that wasn't the true intention."

"What makes you think that?"

She grinned. "I'm not as stupid as you and that purple people eater think I am," was her answer. She moved closer to him and poked his forehead with her black, taloned index finger. "You're also here to make sure I'm a good girl and don't betray the little lady fingers." she smiled a dangerous smile. "He wants you to punish me if I'm naughty. Well you can tell your boss that I have no intention of breaking my promise, even though I am tempted to do just that."

Warp was at a loss for words. How had she figured that out? "Well.. I uh," he stammered.

Shadowstar frowned. "Don't deny it," she commanded, turning away and continuing down the sidewalk. "Because I know you're lying."

* * *

Nos-4-a2 knew Sari had fallen unconscious when she stopped screaming. He was tempted to keep on draining her energy anyway but he'd made himself a promise that he'd stop when she blacked out. That was his limit, for a good reason. If he didn't he'd wind up like he had the first time he'd drained her. Tripped out of his mind and laughing at the dumbest things, including his own pain.

Nos unclenched his teeth and pulled away from the techno organic girl and let go of her arms, letting her fall to the floor. She hit the pavement with a soft thud, landing on her back in one of those girly positions. He smirked. That was going to leave a mark. He knew she wasn't dead, because the fall had been less than six feet but he knew when she woke up she would be feeling it.

If he chose to allow her to regain her senses with her will intact.

The buzzed feeling was starting to set in again which informed him he'd taken more than he realized. The effects were already coming on. Out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw something moving. When he turned his head he was startled by what he saw. The robot parts were dancing. _Craters not again. _

Then he started laughing and he couldn't stop.

He laughed for an entire twenty minutes before something made him stop in mid-giggle. A familiar looking silloette loomed in the far corner. As he stared at it it seemed to be coming toward him. "You!" he shouted, backing away from it. "I took care of you! How can you be here? Get away from me!"

The thing did not heed his words, but continued to move toward him.

"Back!" he yelled firing at it. The plasma seemed to go right through. "No!"

It reached out a hand as if to grab him. "No!" he roared, opening his wings wide and shooting into the air and out of the exit. "Stay away from me!"

* * *

Prowl crashed to the ground, his entire frame glowing a blueish white color. It was happening again, only worse this time. What was happening to Sari? What was the vampire doing to her? Was he.. Was he trying to take control of her?

_No!_

"Prowl?"

Then almost as soon as it began, it ended. He looked up at the worried faces of the space rangers. "That thing again?" Buzz asked.

Prowl nodded and pushed himself off the ground. He lowered his head when he felt vertigo setting in. When it passed, he looked back up at them, his expression troubled. "He did something," he told them. "I feel something different. Something's happened to her."

"What?"

The cyber ninja shook his head, getting to his feet with some help from Booster. "I don't know," he replied. "But it's not good whatever it is."

"Then we'd better start looking for her," Booster spoke up. "We can't let that energy vampire keep on abusing her." he headed for the entrance before anyone could say anything. "Come on, guys!"

"Hold it, Booster," Buzz said, walking forward. "Why don't you let me go in first and make sure he hasn't booby trapped it or something then once I'm sure it's secure I'll come back and get you?"

The red alien didn't look happy at the suggestion since he wanted to save her almost as much as Prowl did, but he saw the wisdom in it and nodded. "Okay," he agreed then moved out of the way so the human could get in.

Buzz climbed inside and disappeared down the tunnel. He was gone for about ten minutes then came back. He poked his head out.

"Well?" Prowl asked, anxious to get going.

"It's clear."


	25. Chapter 25

CHAP 25

"We're never going to find him this way!" Shadowstar shouted, slamming her fist into a wall. "Walking sucks! I want to fly!"

"Hey," Warp Darkmatter, who was walking behind her, said. "We've only been searching for a hlaf hour."

She turned to glare at him. "I wouldn't be having this problem if I was by myself," she informed him, clenching her fists at her sides. "I could just fly around the city and search for that wannabee. But no!" she flung her hands into the air. "I can't do that because then I wouldn't have my so called back up with me anymore and we know how bad that would be," she added sarcastically.

"Well that's not my fault."

"It is!"The femme pointed at his face. "Why didn't you bring something with you that enabled you to fly? It would make this whole thing much easier."

"I did!" he told her, activating his jet pack and hovering in the air a few feet above her. "But how would I have known you wanted to fly around?" he inquired, cocking his head and frowning as if the whole thing was her fault. "You should have said something!"

'I just did." she reached down and grabbed up Nimrod, before activating her thrusters and rising into the air. For some reason she didn't want to lose the little insect, though she could not even begin to figure out why. "Now, if there's nothing else you want to tell me, let's get going."

"Nope." he gestured toward the sky in mock politeness. "After you."

She rolled her eyes and flew past him. "Forget the sarcasm. I'm not in the mood for it."

As they flew over the city Shadowstar scanned the air for Nos-4-a2's energy signature. The fembot knew what it was because fighting him had gotten her close enough to have it stored in her memory. But finding that certain energy signature was complicated because the planet was full of machines with similar ones that caused her to become confused.. This frustrated her because it was making things take longer than it should be. _Stupid dimension with its stupid inferior robots! Why do that all have to share the same frequency?_

The femme looked over at Warp who was flying beside her. "Is it always this hard to find something you want on this Primus forsaken rock?" she asked.

He shrugged as if he was used to it. "Yeah," he said carelessly. "But there's no reason to get ticked off about it. It's better to just accept it."

His lack of concern bothered her. Was he just saying that to tick her off? "But I don't _want _to accept it," she muttered, looking away. She looked at Nimrod in her arms. Maybe he could help. "But what about you?" she asked, grabbing him by the back of the neck and holding him up so she could look at his face. "Do you know of an easier way to find him?"

Nimrod shook his head. "Nope, sorry." he replied. 'I've never been off Planet Z until now."

"I should have known," she moaned.

* * *

"I wonder how far this tunnel goes," Mira said, resting her hand on the wall and looked up at the ceiling. They had been walking down the tunnel for about an hour by then but didn't seem to be getting anywhere. She hoped they'd find something soon. This place stank. "It just seems to go on and on."

"Who knows," Buzz said who stood be side her. When she looked at him he added.. "But no matter how far it is we will keep going until we find Nos-4-a2 and rescue Sari." he over looked at Prowl who stood a fair distance away from the space rangers. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm doing okay," he replied. The Autobot looked back at the space rangers. "But I still feel as if something is wrong. even though I don't think Sari's life is in danger."

'Then what is it?" the human space ranger questioned.

The black and gold robot shook his head. "I don't know yet..." he looked ahead again, scanning the tunnel for Sari's unique energy signature. "but I think.. it might be her will."

"Her will?"

He shook his head once more. "I don't know. I just feel that way." he could sense a strange tension arising from the space rangers, as if they knew exactly what he was talking about it. "Forget it," he said, quickly changing the subject. "Let's just keep going."

"Hey Buzz," Mira said, walking beside her friend. "If he's talking about her will does that mean Nos-4-a2 might have..."

"We can't assume that yet," Buzz told her, frowning as he turned his head to stare at her face. "We'll know for sure once we find them. I don't want to begin thinking that, not with Prowl the way he is right now."

"Oh.' she nodded as if she understood. "I won't mention it to him."

"I think he already knows," Buzz responded, his eyes locked on Prowl's back. "and that's why he's been testy. Just keep XR away from him. I don't want a repeat of what happened outside."

"Will do, Buzz."

Prowl meanwhile was carefully making his way down the tunnel, almost as if he was pretending the others weren't with him. He stayed quite a good distance ahead them, not because he was being inconsiderate, but because he didn't want to get into anymore fights, especially with XR and Mira. He already felt bad enough about doing it before it would be best if they didn't repeat that, even if the things he said could not be taken back or forgotten.

Plus the Autobot was worried about Sari and that real bad feeling was making that feeling evolve into urgency. He had to find her and save her before that happened. _No. I can't allow it. I will find her and what happened to me will not happen to her! Never!_

He looked back at the space rangers. "Can't you go any faster?" he questioned, his voice carrying a tone of impatience.

"We're moving as quickly as possible," Buzz told him.

"Yeah," XR replied. He started to wheel toward him but Mira held him back, that didn't keep him from talking though.. "Not all of us have long legs."

The Autobot ignored him. "At this rate we won't get there in time."

"In time for what?" Booster asked, though he already knew the answer. He just wanted Prowl to say it. "What's wrong?"

"In time to keep her from-" he stopped himself and looked away. "Never mind. Lets' just keep moving."

* * *

Nos-4-a2 flew through the tunnels like he was fleeing from the Devil himself. He didn't know why he was suddenly terrified but he chose not to question it even as his mind tried to rationalize things. That was next to impossible with half his processor off in Candy Land. He couldn't think straight. He couldn't fly straight either. That buzz was making his flight pattern erratic.

_It was your imagination! _the voice of logic was screaming. _That thing wasn't there. It's just a hallucination like the dancing robot parts. You're tripping out on that girl's energy, that's all. You took too much and now you're paying for it! _

Maybe the voice was right but he didn't want to chance it. He looked over his shoulder but saw nothing. Maybe it really was his imagination after all, brought on by in-taking too much tasty energy. He didn't want to chance it. _What if it is-_

He should have been watching where he was going. He hit a wall and bounced off of it, landing with a splash, on his bottom on the wet floor of the tunnel. He sat there for a moment, trying to recover, the walls around him looked strange, as if they too were alive.

_You're seeing things. They can't be moving. It's just the energy high. _

That didn't keep him from giggling about it. "Dancing walls. Heheheheeheee.."

Then his rational mind took hold again. "No, stop that!" He slapped himself a few times and the walls stopped moving. That was better but now he realized he'd fallen into stagnant water with things floating in it. "Ew!"

Disgusted at himself he reactivated his wings and lifted off the floor until he was clear of the water. Then he grabbed his cape and wrung it out... until he spotted the thing again. It was further down the tunnel watching him with vengeful red eyes. That thing was following him!

"Stay away from me!" he yelled at it before spinning around and fleeing once more.

* * *

"Hold it!" Prowl exclaimed, stopping in mid stride. XR who was behind him walked right into the robot's back and fell back onto his bum. "Will you stop doing that!" he shouted.

Prowl didn't reply. He was too busy listening to a sound only he seemed to be hearing. His head was turn to the side slightly, as if doing so would help him hear better.

Something was up. "Prowl, what is it?" Buzz asked, coming up behind him.

"I heard something," the Autobot replied, looking to his right. The sound seemed to be coming down that tunnel. "It came from over there," he said, pointing.

"Then we'd better investigate," Buzz said, already moving. "Let's move, rangers."

The group took off down the tunnel, their feet splashing in the shallow water. They hadn't gone far when Prowl and Team Lightyear spotted the source. Further down the hall, flying like he was blind, was Nos-4-a2 the energy vampire. He hadn't seen them yet because he was looking over his shoulder but when he did he stopped in mid-flight and looked at them in shock. "No!" he shouted, putting up his hand and backing away slightly. "You can't exthist! You're not real!"

"Huh?"

"Thtay back!" he shouted, putting up both hands as if to shoot them. "Back or I'll shoot you with my lather beams!"

Mira noticed Nos-4-a2 seemed to be slurring his words. She looked at Buzz. "Does he sound strange to you?" she asked.

Lightyear nodded.

"Where's Sari!" Booster shouted, stomping toward the forward.

"Get away you stupud spit racer!" the energy vampire slurred, backing away from him. "You're not going to take me alive!" Just then his wings and anti-gravity hardware failed. He fell to the floor with a thump. "Craters, not again." he said in a whiny voice that didn't fit him.

Prowl and the space rangers were coming toward him. "Get away from me!" he yelled at them, still attempting to back away though without legs all he could do was flounder around like a fish out of water. "You don't exist! You're in my head!"

Prowl stood over him, his expression changing dangerously. "If I don't exist," he said."'Then this shouldn't hurt." He swung at the energy vampire, his fist crashing into Nos' face. The energy vampire roared in pain as he rocketed across the room and crashed into the wall, head first.

The vampire grunted and fell limply to the floor. The Autobot started walking toward him again, his face darkened with dealy intent, but Buzz grabbed his arms, holding him back. "Whoa, Prowl!" he shouted. "Let's not lose our cool!"

"Let go of me, Lightyear!" the cyber ninja shouted, struggling. "He knows where Sari is and I'm going to amek him tell me."

'Not like this you aren't," Mira put in, moving to assit Buzz in restraining the robot. "Calm down. We'll make him tell us. You don't have to beat him up!"

Buzz looked at Booster. "Mind doing the honors?"

Booster was more than ready. "Sure thing Buzz." He headed toward Nos-4-a2, reaching out and grabbing the vampire by the back of the neck onc e he was close enough to grab. He lifted the vampire off the floor. "Where is Sari?" he yelled, waving a fist in front of Nos-4-a2's face. "Don't make me use this!"

Nos lifted his head and glared at the alien. "You will never find her! " he slurred. "I won't tell you! The girl is my dinner! You can't have her!" he pointed a shaking finger at him. "So why don't you and your brothers go back to your little space shift?"

"Huh? Brothers?" Booster looked around himself. "I don't have any brothers!"

"Yes, you do," Nos replied. His expression changed from serious to comical. He started giggling. "Heheehhe dancing brothers."

The red alien looked at the others. The rookie looked confused. "He's not making any sense."

"Let me," XR said, wheeling froward until he got right into the vampires face. "Remember me, Nos?"

Nos-4-a2 stared at him for a moment then a weird smile crossed his face. "Hello, Little One," he said gleefully. 'Have you come here to feed me with some lovely energy? Well you're a bit late. Heheehehe." he playfully poked the robot's helmet. "Googly eyes. HAHAHAHAAAAA!"

XR shoved his hand away. "Cut that out!"

"Cut what out?" he asked. "The flowers growing out of your head? Ugh keep them away! I hate veggies!"

XR looked at Booster then at Buzz. "I think he's got a screw loose."

"That's not it."

They looked over at Prowl who had calmed down by then and was studying the energy vampire carefully. His expression was troubled. Something about the energy vampire's behavior didn't feel right. _What has he been feeding on? _

"What do you mean?" Booster asked.

The Autobot looked at Buzz and Mira who were holding him back. "Mind letting me go?" he asked. "I won't lose it this time."

The space rangers, seeing he was being honest, release their hold. Once he was free, Prowl walked over to Nos-4-a2 and studied his face, his hand resting on his chin, thoughtfully. Finally he said. "He's drunk."

The space rangers stared at him as if he'd suddenly grown an extra head. "Drunk?" they said in one voice.

He nodded.

"How can a _robot _get drunk?" Mira questioned, unable to comprehend what he was saying.

"Trust me, they can," the cyber ninja responded. "I would know since it's happened to me." he studied Nos face again, that bad feeling growing worse. "On Cybertron us transformers drink energon as a sourse of energy and there are different types of grade. High, low and medium. High is the most sought after because it energizes quickly but it can be dangerous if too much is taken. It makes robots act and speak like humans when they have had too much alcohol. This includes strange behavior , slurred speech, and of course the hangover the day after." he pointed at Nos' face. "This is how he is acting, but how in the Matrix did he get his hands on high grade energon?"

Nos-4-a2 was laughing again. It sounded close to hysterical this time. The space ranger stared at him again, unsure what to say about such uncharacteristic behavior. "So what should we do with him then?" Buzz asked. "Because I don't think we're going to get anything out of him in this state."

Prowl frowned, his optics locked at Nos-4-a2's drunken features. He knew from experience drunk robots has loose tongues but he got the feeling it would be the opposite with the energy vampire. He was tripped out but he still seemed to have some presence of mind. "Maybe, maybe not."

"What do you mean?"

But before he could answer Nos seemed to suddenly regain control of his senses. "Lightyear!" he yelled raising his hand and shooting a bolt of plasma energy at him.

The blast took the space ranger in the chest, knocking him off his feet. "Buzz!" Booster shouted, his grip on Nos loosening enough for the robot to break free which is exactly what he did.

He roared and shoved at the alien, knocking him over. He then punched grabbed XR and threw him across the room before turning to Prowl and punching him in the face. Even though he was drunk the blow still held a lot of force, Enough to crack Prowl's optics visor and send it flying off the robot's face.

Mira tried to shoot at him with her arm laser but missed. he roared at her then activated his wings and took off back down the tunnel.

"After him!" Buzz shouted as Mira and XR ran to. "We have to follow him!"

Prowl also didn't want the vampire to get away but he couldn't do anything yet. He had to find his visor. he felt around in the water for it until his hand touched the delicate glass. He picked it up and put it back on his face. he then turned to the others. "Let's move. He'll take us to Sari," Prowl said before transforming into vehicle mode and giving chase.

* * *

Shadowstar was starting to lose hope. The fembot and the others had been searching for what seemed like hours with no luck at all. She was beginning to think that the other energy vampire had left the planet. _He'd better not! I don't want to search this entire puit forsaken dimension just for a stupid vampire wannabe! Does he think I-_

Shadowstar paused in mid flight, almost causing Warp Darkmatter to fly into her.

"Hey!" he shouted, hovering behind her. "At least tell me when you're going to do that."

The femme ignored him. She looked around herself, her expression one of deep concentration. Had she really picked it up this time? Was it going to be the right one? No! This was it!

When he realized what she was doing the blue skinned alien asked. "What is it?"

She turned back to him and smiled that sadistic smile. "I think I found him," she said.

* * *

Nos-4-a2 burst into his lair a short time later. He was feeling panicky which wasn't normal for him, but how could he be calm when his enemies were right behind him?!. He tried to force himself to calm down but his buzz wouldn't let him. It was making him edgy and he couldn't stop himself from darting around the lair or from babbling to himself.

_They found me, _he thought, looking back toward the entrance as if expecting to see them in the tunnel behind him. _They're going to either kill me or put me back in that dreadful prison. _He clenched his fists, becoming angry which made his flight pattern even more erratic. _Well I won't allow it! Not this time!_

But what could he do to prevent it? In the state he was in now he could barely fly straight. He would have to find other means to deal with them. His optics fell onto Sari's limp form, lying on the floor. He smiled. _Lovely._

_

* * *

_

Warp Darkmatter stared at the fembot for a moment, allowing the information she'd just given him to sink into his brain. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I can feel him," she replied, staying completely still. After a moment, the femme pointed downward at an angle. "He's hiding in there."

Warp lowered his head until his eyes fell on the specific location. A large sewer pipe. "In there?" he asked, pointing.

She nodded. "Exactly."

Then she dived toward it, forcing him to follow her or be left behind. Once they were on the ground beside the pipe Shadowstar walked over and looked into the tunnel. "Yes," she confirmed, studying the interior. "It's coming from in here."

"You have got to be kidding me!"

She turned back to him, frowning. "Something wrong?" she asked.

He made a face as if going in there wasn't on his top ten list of things he wanted to do.. ever. "Are you sure he'd hiding in there?" he asked, his mind flashing back to the last time he'd gone into a sewer. That had been with lightyear when the two were forced to team up to escape crazy alien scientists. He didn't want to go through that again. "You sure he's not like, you know, hiding in one of these buildings?" he gestured at the hotels on both sides of them.

"Yes," she confirmed, nodding his head. "What? Don't you want to go in there?" his expression gave her the answer. "Hmm you afraid to mess up that pretty face of yours, your highness?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips. "Well then fine I'll go in alone." she looked at Nimrod whom she'd set down when she landed. "Unless you want to come with me?"

He seemed to have reservations as well. "Uh.."

She frowned in annoyance. "Fine then," she said. "I'll go in myself." she turned around and made as if to climb into the pipe. "You men are all the same. You act all macho but deep down you're a bunch of cowards."

Darkmatter didn't like being called a coward. "Wait," Warp said, making her stop. She looked back at him. "You can't go in there alone. Remember our deal?"

So now he remembered. "So what are you going to do then?" she demanded impatiently. "I'm not going to stay out here because you don't want to get dirty."

"You're not going in alone," he repeated, walking over to her. "I'm coming with." he reached down and grabbed up Nimrod. "and you're coming too."

Nimrod wasn't happy. "But but-" he stammered.

"No buts!" he cut him off. "You're coming with whether you like it or not!"

The femme seemed satisfied with that. "Just don't get in my way."

* * *

"Are you sure he went this way?" Buzz asked Prowl as the group moved quickly down the tunnel.

"I'm sure of it," he replied, nodding his head. The Autobot had gone back into standard mode after he'd wiped out in vehicle mode. He'd almost killed XR when that happen so he thought it was wise to stay in the form he was comfortable with. Plus he didn't want to kill anybody. "Unless there's another tunnel we can't see I'm one hundred percent sure."

"Okay but what if-" Buzz stopped in mid-sentense. He looked ahead. "What's that?" he asked, pointing.

Prowl looked where he'd indicated. further up the tunnel stood a figure. Right away he recognized who it was. "That's Sari!" he exclaimed, increasing his pace. "She must have gotten away from him after all."

"Then let's get her out of here," XR said.

They had nearly reached her when the Autobot sensed something was wrong. "Stop!" he yelled, putting out his arms which most of them crashed into.

"Will you cut that out already?!" XR shouted, getting tired running into the Autobot all the time.

"I'm sorry." he said a little absently.

Mira noticed Prowl seemed upset. "What's wrong?" she asked, rubbing her head as she got up.

Prowl's optics were focused on Sari as he replied "Something isn't right about this." He suddenly felt as if acid was running through his system. He'd felt that way before and it could only mean one thing, though he wished he was wrong. "I think.. I think she's." He stepped toward her. "Sari?"

Upon hearing his voice the techno organic girl turned around to face them. She opened her eyes which instantly confirmed the cyber ninja's fears. They were no longer ice blue, but a blood red color. He took a step back in horror. "No..," he gasped. "S..Sari?"

When she saw him she smiled, but not the smile he was used to. It was a wicked smile that made her features look horrible. The Autobot backed off slightly, unable to believe what he was seeing even as he said. "He's taken control of her!"

The moment those words escaped his lips Sari activated the blades in her arms and with a horrible, ear piercing scream she attacked.


	26. Chapter 26

CHAP 26

"Will you hurry up?" Shadowstar called, looking over her shoulder so she could glare at Warp Darkmatter who was lagging behind. "At this rate that stupid wannabe will be gone before we even get there! Why in Primus name are you going so slow?!"

Warp, who was gingerly making his way through the tunnel, grimacing as he stepped through the stagnant water, looked up. "I'm going as fast as I can," he stated.

"You are not," she shot back, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at him. By all appearances it looked like he was doing it on purpose, just to tick her off. "You're as tender footed as a sparkling! Can't you go any faster or do I have to carry you?"

He stared at her hopefully. "Would you?"

"No!" she shouted appalled at the very idea. "What do I look like?"

He frowned. "You're carrying Nimrod," he stated, pointing.

The femme looked at the Grub clinging to her neck. "Nimrod is small and light," she responded, her optics dimming. "You are big and fat-"

"I am not fat!" he shouted, mortified.

"-and I have no intention of carrying a being that makes up two of me when I stand next to him," she finished as if he'd never cut her off. "Now quite being such a sissy and hurry up before I leave you behind."

"You can't leave me behind!" he shouted. "Remember-"

"Yeah yeah," she said, waving him off. Like she needed him telling her about Zurg's orders. "Whatever. Just save it. Let's go, and if you don't hurry up I'm going to shoot at you just to get you moving."

"Fine!" he started moving faster, though she could tell he wasn't happy. "I'm coming! No need to resort to violence!"

* * *

Sari came right at Prowl, completely ignoring the Space Rangers behind him. It almost seemed as if she singled him out. The cyber ninja was forced to defend himself when she swung at his, screaming like a banshee. The cyber ninja put up his arm and blocked the blow, but couldn't prevent the sharp energon blade from cutting a hole in his armor. The impact was so powerful it hurt more thna he thought it would.

Prowl yelped in pain and flee back a step, grabbing his arm which was now bleeding mech fluid. _What?!_

Sari didn't wait for him to recover. She jumped back then came at him again. This time she kicked him in the stomach, knocking back another step but not putting him off balance. Then she once more lunged at him, swnging her blades. He jerked back, just barely getting out of reach. She moved back and tried it again.

"Sari!" he shouted, trying to defend himself without having to resort to violence. He didn't want to hurt her. "Sari! It's me Prowl! Wake up! This isn't you!"

The girl responded to this by kicking the cyber ninja in the chest again. This time the blow was so great it knocked him back. He crashed into Buzz who stood behind him, sending them both to the floor.

"Forget it, Prowl," Mira said as she and XR ran forward, their lasers ready. "She can't hear you."

The cyber ninja's optics widened when he figured out what they intended to do. "No! Don't hurt her!" he shouted, trying to get back up before something happened..

"We're not," The Tangean said, looking back at him. "We're just going to stop her from trying to kill us."

XR looked at Mira, his expression doubtful. "How are we going to keep her from killing us without hurting her back?" he questioned.

"I don't know," Mira replied, shaking her head. "But we'll do the best we can." She looked over her shoulder, her blue eyes locking with one of her comrades. "Booster! We need you help too!"

"Oh right," he said, moving to help, even though his expression and body language said he would rather not. He didn't want to hurt the girl but he didn't have a choice.

Sari saw the three space rangers coming and stood still, waiting for them to draw near. That wicked smile was still plastered on her face. "Come on, you wannabes," she taunted in a voice that didn't exactly sound like her real one but was close. "Let's have some fun."

"The fun stops here, Sari," Mira said, rushing at the girl.

Sari tensed, waiting for Mira to attack. But the woman didn't hit her or attempt to land any type of blow. She didn't even use her laser.. Instead she ghosted right through the techno organic girl's body and came out behind her. Before she could turn around the Tangean kicked her in the back, knocking her to the floor.

Sari landed on her hands and knees but didn't stay down long. When Booster and XR moved toward her she glared at them then activated her hammer and swung. Both jumped back with a yelp. "I forgot she had that thing," XR said as she got to her feet and moved toward them, brandishing that hammer.

"Come on, rookies," she said provocatively. "Don't tell me that's the best you can do."

"Well actually that's just us getting started," XR said. He then pulled out every gun in his arsenal and started shooting at her with them.

Sari put up her hand to protect her face and then her body suddenly transformed before their eyes. Armor and a helmet seemed to appear out of nowhere, covering her head and chest. Even her hands arms, legs, and feed seemed to change somewhat. Once the transformation was complete she charged, completely ignoring all the blaster fire. "Time for you to die, Google head!"

The sight of the girl coming at him with deadly intentions seemed to completely drain the robot's courage. "Ahhh!" the robot screamed, dropping his guns and spinning around and wheeling away. Sari went after him, not about to lose her adversary so easily. "Get back here, coward!"

"I got a better idea," he said, looking back at her. "How about I keep running and you go after somebody else?"

But the girl wasn't about to be denied. It seemed her dislike for him had upgraded itself into pure hate. She wasn't going to leave him alone until he was dead. "You can't escape me, Little One."

She chased after XR until somebody tackled her, knocking her to the floor onto her back. "Let me go!" she screamed, struggling to free herself from his hold.

"Sari!" Prowl shouted, grasping her arms. "It's me! Prowl!"

She glared into his face with no sign of recognition which hurt for some reason. "Get off of me, Autobot!" she screamed.

He wasn't about to do that. He had to get Sari back. He couldn't let Nos-4-a2 keep his hold on her. It hurt too much. "Sari...."

Suddenly he felt a new kind of pain. The physical kind. It was coming from his chest. He looked down at himself and saw one of Sari's swords had pierced his chest plate. He stared back at her, his optics wide in disbelief. "Sari.."

She kicked at him, knocking him off. He fell, crashing to the wet floor of the tunnel. He groaned, covering the damage with his hand and staring up at Sari who had gotten to her feet once more. At that moment, she didn't even look the least bit like the Sari he knew so well. She looked like a Decepticon. "Serves you right, Autobot," she said, kicking him.

The girl activated her hammer and lifted it above her head as if she was going to use it to smash in Prowl's chest. But before she could, she was hit by laser fire. She yelped in surprise and backed off, dropping the hammer onto the ground and moving away from the fallen Autobot. She turned her head and glared at the one responsible. XR . He'd gotten over his fright and was now coming at her, firing off his guns. "Back away from the Autobot, you zombie!" he shouted. "Or I'll raise the setting and blow your brains out!"

She laughed at his threat as if it was just a joke then rushed him, her face full of murderous intent. "Go right ahead, you dirty machine!"

XR seemed to reconsider for a brief moment then he recovered and wheeled toward her, firing away. Much as he didn't like Prowl he couldn't exactly let Sari harm him, even if she had no qualms about hurting the ninja. She in turn charged, swinging her blades and cutting the ends off the guns like they were made of paper.

XR stared at his ruined guns in shock. "Okay, that is just cheap," he commented, annoyed.

"Who said I was playing fair?" Sari jumped back and kicked him in the chest, sending him flying down the tunnel. She laughed then turned back to Prowl who was trying to get up off the floor but wasn't having much luck. His optics were locked on her face. The cyber ninja looked sad. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you," he said to her.

"What's to save?" she asked, pointing her blades at him. "You weren't going to come for me anyway!"

"That's not true!"

"It is true and you know it!" she screamed. "The one chance you had to save me you chose to run away!"

"Sari-"

"Shut up and die, coward!"

At that moment pain shot up her back. The girl screamed and spun around, spotting Buzz and Booster charging forward, shooting off their lasers. "Hold it right there, Sari!" Buzz shouted at her. "I won't allow you to kill Prowl. Even if you are under Nos-4-a2's control I can't stand by and let you commit a crime!"

She glared at the annoying space rangers then charged at them, screaming her head off.

"Here she comes!" Booster exclaimed, looking panicky.

"Steady, ranger," Buzz told him. "We can't let our feelings cloud what we have to do."

The red alien hesitated. "But she's-"

"Sometimes we have to make sacrifices."

Mira came through the wall and knelt down to to help Prowl get up. "Here," she said grabbing his arm and draping it over her shoulder. "Let me help you." The Tangean noticed the damage. "She really got you, didn't she?"

The cyber ninja didn't respond. His optics were focused on Sari who was in the middle of a battle with Buzz and Booster. _She.. she thinks I abandoned her? _

"Let's get you out of here," Mira said, starting to move back down the tunnel with him..

Prowl held back. "No," he stated. "I don't want to go."

"But you're damaged!" she exclaimed. "You can't stay down here or you'll-

"I won't go anywhere without Sari!"

Mira looked over at the girl. "That's not the Sari you know."

he looked at her, shocked. "What do you mean by that?" he demanded. "Are you saying the Sari I've known for the past three years is gone forever?!"

The Tangean princess shook her head, realizing what she'd said hadn't come out the way she'd intended. "I'm sorry," she answered, looking at him. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Then what _did _you mean?"

"Forget it," she said, not wanting to talk about it anymore. "If you're not going to let me take you out of here can I at least move you away from the fight before you get hurt again?"

He didn't have a choice. He nodded. "Only that."

* * *

"Wait! Hold it right there, men!" Shadowstar ordered, stopping in her tracks and standing completely still.

Warp Darkmatter frowned at her. "What is it now?" he asked suspiciously. This fembot had the bad habit of yelling "hold it!" whenever she sensed something and it was starting to get annoying.

"I hear something," she replied, her mouth turning up in a smile as she figured out what it was. "Somebody is fighting somewhere."

"What?" he exclaimed. "Then that means-"

She turned back to him, still smiling. "It means we have competition." The thought filled her with a sick pleasure. "and I think I know who." she licked her lip components, a perverted thrill coursing through her body. "and to think I would come upon both of the objects of my wrath in one place."

Darkmatter stared at her, not know what she was talking about. 'What-"

But before he could finish the question she spun around and flung Nimrod at him then, while he attempted to catch the screaming Grub, she transformed into vehicle mode and, with a roar of her engines, shot down the tunnel without waiting for him. _I'm coming, my little playthings. Don't kill each other until I've had a chance to dish out my own share of punishment._

* * *

"Ow! That girl sure can hit hard," XR commented as Mira and Prowl moved over to where he was. The smaller robot got up and wiped his frame off. "I honestly didn't expect him to make her his slave. I thought for sure he'd just feed on her and-" he noticed Mira glaring at him. "What?"

"Ever try thinking before you speak?' she asked, glancing at Prowl who had his hand over a bleeding gap in his chest.

When XR noticed Prowl he realized what she meant. "Oh. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," the cyber ninja responded, looking at him with a cold expression. "You are only speaking your mind after all."

The robot space ranger could tell by Prowl's tone that he hadn't been forgiven. "I uh..." he stammered, trying to come up with the right words. He hadn't intended to sound so inconsiderate. "That wasn't what I meant. I was just-"

"Please close your mouth," Prowl said, wincing when his damage shot another wave of pain through his system. That didn't keep the burning resentment out of his optics though. "Before I hurt you."

"You're not really in any shape to hurt anyone," Mira said, her eyes locked on his damage.

"You'd be surprised how much I can still do in this state."

XR opened his mouth to say something but a sudden roaring sound drowned out any words. "What is that?!" Mira shouted, putting her hands over her ears.

Just then something came barreling down the tunnel. It looked like a small black and red jet of some kind. It shot over their heads and past the fighting space rangers and Sari, the sonic boom knocking them all over.

"Whoa!" Buzz exclaimed, getting to his feet. "What in the world was that?"

"It looked like a jet," Booster commented, watching the machine disappear down the tunnel. "But what in the Nebula is a jet doing down here?"

"A jet?" Prowl looked over his shoulder, his expression changing from angry to horrified. "That's Shadowstar!"

"Shadowstar?!" The space rangers looked at each other. "What's she doing down here?"

"She's here to finish the job you people failed to complete." a voice spoke up.

Everyone looked in the opposite direction the jet had gone. All their eyes fell on Warp Darkmatter who stood a few feet away holding a little Grub in his arms. "Warp! What are you doing here?" Buzz asked, surprised to see his former partner here of all places.

"I'm here to capture a vampire," he replied, raising his right arm which changed into a gun. "So I would advice you all staying out of my way while I do my job."

"Capture a vampire?" Mira questioned. "You mean Nos-4-a2?"

"Well I'm not talking about Edward Cullen," he retorted.

"What do you need Nos-4-a2 for?" Buzz wanted to know. He aimed his arm laser at the man. "What's this all about?"

"My, my, always resorting to violence." Warp smirked, unimpressed by the human's bravado. "As for why I want to capture Nos-4-a2.. That's for me to know and you to find out," he aimed his gun at the human's head. "Now stand aside, Lightyear, I have work to do." he walked toward them slowly. "Like backing up my partner."

"Partner?"

"The sleek and sexy little sky-bot that just flew by," he replied. "She's here to take him out for me."

Prowl stared at him, unable to believe what he was hearing. Shadowstar was working with an organic? Why? What was this all about?

"Master!" Sari's voice brought him out of his thoughts. He looked over at her. The girl was scrambling to her feet even as XR, who had jumped in to restrain her, struggled to hold her down.

"Whoa!" he shouted, pressing down on her shoulders. "Hold it!"

The girl wasn't listening. She reached over her shoulders and grabbed his arms then flung him over her head as if he weighed nothing. He flew into Booster, sending both space rangers to the floor. Once she was free, she spun around and dashed down the tunnel, back the way she came.

* * *

Shadowstar saw a light at the end of the tunnel. It could either be because there was a open area ahead or she'd reached the end of the tunnel and was going to exit somewhere else on Trade World. Something told her it was the former. _He's here, I can sense him. There's no way I could have flown past him without noticing. _

So was Prowl. She knew that because she'd passed him on the way. The fembot had been tempted to stop and go back for him but changed her mind at the last second. She'd simply memorized the faces of the beings with him just in case he was gone by the time she finished taking care of Nos-4-a2. If they weren't she could always find him later by recognizing the faces in her memory banks.

_Right now I want to deal with that stupid wannabe. I'll teach him to humiliate me! _

The fembot burst out of the tunnel and transformed, her optics scanning the area. She found herself in a large, circular room with steeply declining walls on all sides. She looked toward the ground and spotted what looked like a coffin lying on the floor. Though she had never seen that before, something told her that it belonged to the other energy vampire. "And if it's here so should he," she said to herself. "I can sense him. He's in this room."

She looked around herself. There weren't really any places for him to hide. In fact, aside from that coffin, there were none. "Which means he's hiding inside it."

The femme lowered herself to the floor then walked over to the casket. She walked over to the box and reached out a hand as if to open it. But before she could, a roaring sound behind her made her turn around. She turned away just as Nos-4-a2, who'd been behind her the whole time, came flying at her.

Shadowstar activated her thrusters and shot into the air and out of his way. He flew right under her then turned around to glare at her. "You again!" they shouted at once.

"Didn't think I'd come back for you after you humiliated me, you pointy faced legless wannabe?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips."I can tell you I don't forgive people that easily!"

"You can't be real!" he shouted at her, his speech strangely impaired. "I'm imagining you!"

"Imagining me?" She flew at him and grabbed him by the neck. "I can assure you I am very real." she said, coldly. "Hallucinations can't harm people!" Then to prove her point, she kicked him in the chest, knocking him across the room where he slammed into the wall and fell to the floor. She watched him slowly picking himself up off the ground, noticing how slowly he was moving. _What is wrong with him? _

Just then he recovered and flew at her again, trying to punch at her face. The blows were wide, missing their target by inches. She on the other hand scored another hit, this time punching him square in the face. He fell back with a roar but didn't fall, though she noticed his wings kept flickering as if they were having a hard time staying active.

He came at her again and she braced herself. She shouldn't have worried because he shot right past her, missing the fembot but a full yard. She turned around to face him, expecting some kind of attack. Instead all she saw was him hovering there with his one hand on his stomach plating and another over his mouth, like he was sick and trying his hardest not to blow oil all over everything.

She stared at him, unsure how to react to this strange behavior. _What in the pit? Why is he- _then from out of nowhere the answer came to her. _No! It can't be! He can't be drunk!_

"Well this is just perfect," she grumbled, moving toward him, her face full of anger and disappointment. He saw her coming and moved away. "Get back!" he shouted.

She didn't listen and reached out to grab him. He tried to move away but was too slow. She caught him by the front of the cape. "I _was _going to punish you and enjoy every minute of it as you struggled to defend yourself," she growled into his face. "I was even looking forward to you begging for mercy in a pathetic little voice. But you just had to go and do this to yourself and ruin everything! How am I going to enjoy anything now if you're half out of it, you moron!?"

Nos giggled. "You have a flat nose," he said, raising his hand and poking her face.

She shoved his hand away. "Stop that!" she ordered, hotly. "You're one to talk! You don't even _have_ a nose!"

Something hit her in the back. She screamed more out of surprise than pain. She turned around and glared up at Sari who was standing in the entrance with her hands open, brandishing another rob. "Get your hands off my master!" she shouted.

Shadowstar stared at her. Did she just say what she thought she said? "Master?" she looked bact at Nos. "Master?"

He giggled at the expression on her face. "Surprised?" he looked up at Sari, the energy vampire's expression losing that boozed up expression. "Come assist your master, Little One!"

"Yes!" then she jumped at the fembot, activating her blades as she did so.

_A/N_

_as you can see I am still updating this even if nobody is reading it.  
_


	27. Chapter 27

CHAP 27

Prowl lunged forward, breaking Mira's grip on his arm, and took off down the tunnel after the techno organic girl before anyone could stop him. The damage he'd sustain was forgotten for now, all he cared about was getting Sari back. _I have to stop her! _he thought. _I have to break his control!_

"Prowl!" he heard Buzz Lightyear calling after him. "Stop!"

The Autobot ignored the space ranger and kept on going. He knew what the man was going to say and didn't want to hear it. _I have to get to Sari. That's all that matters right now. _

If he had to fight with Nos-4-a2 or Shadowstar in the state he was in he would do it too. With the way he was feeling right now no amount of damage could stop him from saving the one he cared about. Behind him he could hear the sound of running footsteps. The others were following him. But were they there to save Sari, capture Nos-4-a2, or keep him from doing anything they though was stupid? he didn't care _what _they intended. He knew what he wanted to do and he was going to make it happen, even if the others didn't think he could.

_Just stay out of my way. All of you._

_

* * *

_

Shadowstar threw the drunken, laughing Nos-4-a2 to the side and faced Sari who was coming for her. She noticed the girl's face, especially her eyes which were red, looked different. This told her better than any words that the girl was the other vampire's slave. Which meant she really was a machine after all, even if she looked like a human. _I knew she was a freak but I didn't think she was one that much!_

"Come and get me freak!" she shouted.

Not like the techno organic wasn't already. Halfway there Sari changed position, changing her lunge to a kick. Her foot slammed hard into Shadowstar's chest, knocking her back against the steep walls. She hit it hard, a crack running down her wing.

The femme, screaming in pain and anger, pushed herself away from the wall and lunged at the girl who was gently sliding down the walls to the floor. She raised her head just as Shadowstar slammed into her, knocking her toward the floor and into the pile of robot parts Sari had worked so hard to set up. Pieces of dead robots crashed onto them.

She landed on top of the girl, pinning her down by holding her arms and resting her knees on her stomach. "You should have stayed out of this, you little brat," she snarled, ignoring the mess around her. "Now I'm going to kill you like I should have all those months ago when you refused to give me that key!"

Sari screamed in her face and tried to activated her blades, but since Shadowstar was holding her arms away from her body, they were useless. "Not this time, freak," the femme said. "You're not going to ruin my plans this time."

"But I am!"

A bolt of green plasma hit her in the back, knocking her off Sari. She fell into the mess of parts, landing on a bed or robot corpses. Sari quickly got to her feet and charged at Shadowstar who kicked her in the stomach when she got close. The girl flew across the room until her back slammed into Nos-4-a2's coffin, cracking her head on the edge and slumping to the floor, dazed. The femme got to her feet and glared up at Nos-4-a2 who was smiling at her with a look of childish glee. "I got you! Heheheehee!" he giggled, pointing at her.

"You're going to regret that, you stupid drunk!" she yelled, reactivating her thrusters and shooting into the air.

She slammed into his chest and wrapped her arms around his narrow waist. She then deactivated her thrusters and allowed them both to crash to the ground. They both hit the concrete floor hard but since Nos was below her, he took the brunt of the blow. He screamed in pain as a deep crack spidered up his back. "How do you like that, wannabe?" she demanded, punning him down with her one hand and punching him in the face. "That should teach you to humiliate me like that!"

"Leave Master alone!" Sari screamed recovering and running toward the girl.

Shadowstar looked up and gave the techno organic girl a look of annoyance. "Shut your face, you stupid little freak," she ordered. She then pulled a three barreled gun out of nowhere and shot the girl in the chest with it. Sari slammed into the coffin again. "You're annoying me. Stupid techno organic freak."

She looked back at Nos-4-a2 who was struggling to free himself from her grip but not accomplishing much. In his drunken state he wasn't as powerful or strong. "Don't even try getting away," she said. "With the way are right now you wouldn't be able to put up a good fight." She raised the gun as if to shoot him with it. 'Now hold still. This will only hurt for a minute!"

Before she could pull the trigger a throwing star came flying out of nowhere and lodged itself into her hand. She roared in pain, dropping the gun as her red optics locked onto the projectile. Gold and three pointed. Familiar.

"Shadowstar!" a voice above shouted.

She lifted her head. She could make out Prowl's gold and black frame standing at tne edge of the tunnel, high above her head. He was looking down at her with worry on his face. But he wasn't worried about her. No, she could tell he was worried about the girl. "Prowlly," she said, when he jumped down and faced her. "My precieus little plaything. Are you here for take your medicine?"

Prowl obviously didn't want to get into that. He, ignoring her inquiry, asked her. "Where is Sari?"

"The girl?" she asked, holding the writhing Nos-4-a2 down. She cocked her head. "She's over there by the box."

Prowl turned his head to where she was indicating. His optics fell on a figure slumped against the coffin. "Sari!" he exclaimed, moving toward her.

As he did Shadowstar noticed the damage on his chest plate and arm. "What happened, Prowly?" she asked, licking her lips in hunger. The sight of that damage filled her with a sick pleasure. How she missed seeing him like that. "You run into trouble?"

He ignored her and reached down to pick up Sari. The girl was more important than conversing with Shadowstar right now. He would worry about the fembot later.

Once he had the girl in his arms he turned back to the femme. "You're lucky Sari's my top priority right now," he said, his voice and expression cold. "Otherwise I would have punched in your face."

She laughed at his words. "I'd like to see you try, Autobot." She really wanted him to do that too. It would be more fun than beating up on a drunken robot.

He frowned. "I'm not the only one here, you know."

"Oh yes, I saw your little friends," she stated, unimpressed. "I clearly have nothing to worry about from them. Besides." Shadowstar stood, her hands still firmly gripping those of Nos-4-a2's. He was struggling to free himself but wasn't accomplishing much besides annoying the Decepticon. "I don't have time to deal with you anyway, since I have to take care of this little nuisance." she glared at Nos who roared into her face. She didn't even flinch. "So since you have what you want for now and I have what I want, why don't we just do what we're going to do and put our little smack down on hold until then?"

Prowl looked into the air. "I'm not the one who has any say in that."

She lifted her head as well. Now more people were in the tunnel entrance. The space rangers and Warp Darkmatter with Nimrod. All the space rangers had their arm lasers aimed at her. "Don't move!" the human looking one shouted.

Warp Darkmatter, who stood beside him, hit him in the back, knocking him off the ledge. The space ranger, taken completely by surprise, landed on floor beside Shadowstar. "Sorry, Lightyear but I am afraid I can't let you do that." he activated his jet pack and pushed himself off the edge. He shouted at Shadowstar. "Yo, Shadowstar, let's go before Buzz's trigger happy rookies start shooting."

She smirked. "I was just waiting for you, fleshbag," she said before activating her thrusters and rising into the air with the other energy vampire. She spun him around and yanked his hands behind his back much as he struggled to prevent it. "Let's get moving, you wannabe."

He in turn roared into her face.

Just then Sari, alerted by his cries, came to her senses. When she saw what was going on she reacted instantly. "Master!' she screamed, struggling to free herself from Prowl's hold. "Let go of my master!"

"Sari no!" Prowl shouted trying to hold her back. He couldn't allow her to aid that energy vampire. "He's not your master!"

"Let me go, you coward!" she shrieked.

The cyber ninja did not comply. He'd lost the girl once, he wasn't going to do it again. Not after all the time, effort, and energy he'd put into finding her. "Stop it! He's not your master!" he repeated.

Sari kicked at him, her efforts to break free becoming more frantic as Shadowstar took the struggling energy vampire further into the air and out of her reach. "Let me go!" she screamed again, her voice desperate "Master!"

"No! Stop it, Sari!".

While Prowl was having a hard time holding Sari back Buzz got to his feet and activated his jet pack. The Space Ranger was going to prevent any further shot into the air until he was between the villains and the entrance, his wrist laser locked on them. "I am afraid I can't let you take him anywhere," he told them. "Nos-4-a2 is wanted for crimes against the Galactic Alliance just as you are. If any of you are leaving, it will be in handcuffs."

Warp smirked. "Come on, Buzz," he said. "You know that never works."

Shadowstar glared at the space ranger, her face hardening. How dare this fleshbag think he could order her around. "No," she said. "You're not taking me anywhere I don't want to go. You think you can take me out with your little blinking lights? Let's see you try."

Buzz shot at her. The femme dodged out of the way of the laser fire then flew at him, purposely. She swung Nos like a club and clocked the space ranger over the head with him. Buzz fell back to the floor.

"Buzz!" Booster shouted. He glared at Shadowstar. "You'll pay for that." he raised his arm and fired at her.

The laser beam hit her in the shoulder, nearly causing her to drop Nos-4-a2. She didn't loosen her hold on the vampire though. Instead she held on righter and flew over Booster's head, kicking him when she was inside the tunnel. How dare he think he could stop her like that! He would pay for hurting her!

"Whoa!" he shouted, losing his balance. He pinwheeled his arms to regain his balance but that only made it worse. He fell out of the tunnel and to the floor below. Mira and XR fired at her but she was using Nos as a shield and he got hit instead. The vampire roared in poain and once more tried to break free, not wanting to be shot anymore. Shadowstar, wrapped her right forearm around his neck and held him against her chest, preventing him from going anywhere. She shouted to Warp. "A little help here!"

"Right away, my dear," he said giving her a mock salute. He flew at Mira and XR and shot at them, hitting the floor under their feet. The tunnel collapsed and they both fell, landing on top of Booster. "See ya later, rookies." he called, giving the group a mock salute before following Shadowstar out of the tunnel.

"Master!" Sari scream hysterically. She was struggling so hard Prowl was having a hard time holding her still.

"Ugh, Craters," Buzz muttered getting to his feet. When he saw Prowl was having a hard time holding Sari still he looked at Mira. "Mind uh.. doing something about that?"

The Tangean got to her feet and walked over to the techno organic girl She reached inside her head. Instantly the girl's eyes rolled back in her head and she went limp. "What did you do to her?" Prowl asked, staring at Sari in horror.

"Nothing," She said. "I just kind of knocked her out. She'll be fine."

The cyber ninja stared worriedly into the girl's face. "Did you fix what was wrong?" he asked, looking back at her. He looked desperate. "Can you fix what's wrong?"

Mira shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry, Prowl," she said. "I can't do that. Only Nos-4-a2 or Sari herself can break that control. Unless of course you know of some way I don't which you really can't since you've never really encountered him before and-"

"Then we have to get him back," he exclaimed, cutting off her ramblings. The Autobot looked ready to chase after Shadowstar and Warp Darkmatter. "We can force him to break the control!"

"Hold it," Buzz said, grabbing his shoulder and holding him back. "You're in no shape to go after them. Besides.."

"Besides what?" Prowl demanded, turning his head and glaring at the space ranger. "That vampire is the only one who can give Sari back her free will. We have to get him back before they take him somewhere!"

"We will, we will," Buzz told him. "But first we have to-"

"We don't have to do anything except get him back!"

"Prowl, calm down," Mira said, vying for his attention. She grabbed his arm."We won't let them keep him. We're going to get him back but I think right now we should get Sari out of here and see if we can figure out why Warp and that female vampire want Nos-4-a2."

He calmed slightly. That sounded like a good idea. "Yes, you're right," he agreed. At that moment the damage he'd sustained from Sari's attacks started throbbing, reminding him that he wasn't even in perfect fighting condition.

His grip on Sari loosened and Booster moved to catch her before she fell to the floor. Unfortunately nobody was fast enough to catch Prowl whose optics blinked out and he fell crashing to the concrete floor.

* * *

"Unhand me you, wench!" Nos-4-a2 ordered, struggling to free himself from the fembot's grip. Being captured had sobered him up slightly, though there was still a faint buzzing in his mind. "I am one of the most respected villains in the galaxy! You have no right to-"

"Will you shut up!?" she ordered, pulled her arm back against his neck until he started choking. "Do you actually think I'm going to open that order? I'm not your slave. You don't have any control of me."

Speaking of his slave... Why hadn't she tried to rescue her master? Had the girl freed herself from his control? No, something told him he still had that link. That meant the space rangers were able to restrain her. _Ugh, blasted girl! I should have known she wasn't competent!_

Or maybe she was. Maybe she was taking them out now and would be coming to save her master soon. Fat chance. She was powerful but she wasn't a god.

But just in case she _didn't _he'd keep his control in case he needed some help to get away from these guys if he couldn't do it himself. Something told him he was going to be taken somewhere he wouldn't want to go back to. Something told him he would need to use her later on.

_I won't release you, my dear. I still have further use of you._

Nos noticed the little Grub Warp was holding staring at him. The little insect was trembling as if he recognized the vampire. He giggled which let him know he wasn't sober after all though he was a little less buzzed than before. "You have googly eyes," he snickered.

The Grub ducked his head down, scared to death.

Shadowstar looked down at the energy vampire, annoyed by his sudden laughing fit. "Not this again." she muttered."Can't you stay sober?"

"I don't know, honey buns," he said in a weird sounding voice. "Can you?" then he broke out into hysterical laughter.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. There was no use talking to him. _High grade. It has to be high grade, though it sure has a different affect on him. _

Suddenly she stumbled, nearly dropping the vampire as she fell forward. They both hit the floor hard. But Nos didn't seem to notice. He just giggled again. "You fell down," he cackled.

"Shut up!"

"Maybe you should just knock him out," Warp said, looking over his shoulder. His expression told her he thought she should have already figured that out. "Then he will shut up."

"How am I going to knock him out if I'm holding him?" she asked, shakily getting to her feet. "It's kind of hard to hold onto him and do anything else."

Warp Darkmatter sighed and turned to her. Nimrod jumped off his shoulder and onto the floor. "I'll do it," he said.

She held him up, making a face. "You'd better make sure you hit him and not me," she said.

"Don't worry," he said, grabbing Nos neck. He pulled back his fist. "Just hold him still."

But before he could Nos roared at him which made him flinch. Shadowstar also wasn't expecting the sudden reaction and relaxed her grip slightly. Nos felt her do so and broke away, activating his wings and attempting to fly away.

"Oh no, you don't!" she shouted, recovering and jumping at him.

She tackled the energy vampire to the floor, where she got into a scuffle. She found herself having a hard time holding him still. He was slippery like a fish. "Stop moving, you stupid wannabe!" she yelled. "Sparks! How can you put up such a fight when you don't have any feet!?" she looked at Warp. He was watching and not even attempting to assist. "A little help here!"

"On it." He rushed forward and joined her in the fight to keep Nos pinned down while Nimrod held back, too scared to do much of anything but tremble. Both found it hard to do. The energy vampire was desperate, which made him even stronger. He seemed too strong which was unnerving. Had the energy he'd taken given him more power?

_You will have to incapacitate him. _

Now she didn't have an choice. The only way thing she could think of to stop him before he broke free was the last thing she wanted to do but under the circumstances she didn't have time to be picky. Reaching out and grabbing his face she pulled his head back and bit into his neck. He roared in pain and his thrashing grew greater. She held on, draining his energy until his screams stopped and his body went limp under her.

She then let him go and stood, wiping her mouth with her hand. She noticed Warp and Nimrod staring at her. They looked disturbed. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing," Warp said, reaching down and grabbing up the energy vampire. He slung his limp form over his shoulder. "I just didn't expect you to do that."

"I didn't have a choice," she said, wiping her mouth again. She made a face and walked down the tunnel. "Let's go."

Her companions looked at each other and followed, staying a few steps behind.

What Shadowstar hadn't said was that when she bit him she'd discovered something unexpected. He actually tasted good! Not as good as Prowl, but close... dangerously close.

_Sparks. _

* * *

Red...

He was seeing red. Red everywhere. Red sky, red ground, a red haired girl in a blood red, floor length dress. Red eyes. Hateful red eyes. They were looking at him. _She_ was looking at him.

But it wasn't the way he was used to. The expression was wrong. twisted and gnarled. Full of hatred. Hatred for him.

A blade. Her hand held a blade. It too was red. Something that looked like blood dripped from the glowing blade.

She was coming toward him, her expression malicious. "You abandoned me." she hissed, walking toward him with purpose driven steps. "You allowed me to be taken advantage of! Did you not feel what I felt? Did you not realize how much agony I was going through? I kept telling myself you would come but you never did." she rushed at him. "YOU NEVER DID!"

He tried to run, tried to move but he was rooted to the ground. The sword pierced his chest.

* * *

Prowl came to with a gasp. His body jerked upward, flailing his arms in desperation but something pushed him back down, preventing him from moving too much or falling. Panicking, he struggled against the pressure, trying to free himself.

"Whoa! Hold still!" a voice, sounding strained, shouted. "I'm not finished repairing you yet!"

_Repairing? _Prowl went limp, his struggled subsiding. _Repairs. repairs are good._ His optics blinked on and he found himself staring into XR's face. The robot space ranger had an expression that looked half worried and have irritated. "You," the robot cyber ninja said, relaxing slightly. "It was just you."

"Of course it was me," he said irritably. "Who else would it be?"

Something popped into the Autobot's mind. He sat upright. "Sari!" he shouted. "Where's Sari?" Vertigo set in and he instantly regretted moving so fast. His head fell forward as he groaned. "Stupid.."

XR gently pushed him back until he was lying down again. Prowl discovered then that he was in the brig, lying on one of the cots in a cell. The information didn't bother him. It felt right for some reason. _I deserve it. _

"Don't worry about Sari," XR said. "She's with us."

Prowl looked at her. "Where?"

"In one of the other cells," the robot replied, not looking at him. He seemed distracted for some reason. "But she's still unconscious and that's kind of a good thing."

"Why?"

"Well she's still under Nos-4-a2's control," XR explained. He rummaged in his drawer for a moment and pulled out a welding torch. "Hold still. I have to repair that hole."

Prowl went still, his attention diverted to the ceiling. _I forgot._

"Why'd you have to pass out like that anyway?" the robot space ranger demanded as he worked. "Don't you realize how hard it was to get you out of the tunnel? You weight a ton!"

"I'm sorry."

XR stopped what he was doing and looked at him. "You're an idiot, you know that?"


	28. Chapter 28

CHAP 28

Prowl looked XR in the face, confused by his statement. "I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me!" the space ranger robot said, shaking the blow torch in his face, causing the cyber ninja to flinch. "You're the biggest idiot I ever met! What in the name of Pluto were you thinking running in there like that without any back up or a plan for that matter?!"

"I was thinking that I wanted to save Sari," the cyber ninja responded, shortly. He was feeling very defensive about his decision. "That is all I cared about."

"You can't just go running into things without a plan!" the space ranger robot reprimanded as if were his father. "What would you have done if your fembot energy vampire had been waiting for you? What if _Nos-4-a2_ had been waiting for you?" he poked the cyber ninjas damaged chest plate. Prowl moved his hand to deflect it because it hurt. "You want to have a repeat of this? Your little tehcno organic friend is lethal when her temper is up!"

"Sari had no control over what she did-" he began to say.

"She was under Nos-4-a2's control!" XR shouted, cutting him off. "I know from experience that when that energy vampire uses a powerful being to his advantage he makes it more powerful by corrupting it! If we had not gotten to you when we had she might have killed you, much as you refuse to believe that. As for the other energy vampire..." he looked long and hard at Prowl's face. "She's still got some kind of hold on you which makes me wonder how it all would have ended."  
"She has no hold on me," Prowl informed him. "Why would you think such a thing?"

"Because she- Forget it," XR finished up the repairs and headed out of the cell. When he reached the door he stopped and turned around to say a few more things. "By the way. Do you have any idea why your energy vampire would want Nos-4-a2 or team up with Warp Darkmatter?"

"How should I know?" Prowl asked him. "I don't know what goes on in that twisted mind of hers. She could have any reason."

Prowl's answer was a disappointment. "Oh. Never mind then." he started out of the room. "You just get some shut eye then and we'll wake you up when we have arrived at Star Command."

"Star Command?" Prowl was instantly on his feet. "Why are we heading back there? Shouldn't we be going after Shadowstar and her companions?"

XR turned back to him. He folded his arms and gave the Autobot a look. "You'll find out why we're going back to Star Command when we get there and besides you're not really in any condition to be fighting anyone at the moment," he said. "and honestly I don't want to talk to you anymore right now. If I have to I might do something I'll regret."

"What?"

XR extended his legs until he was right in the Autobot's face. Something in his features revealed a deep loathing that hadn't been there before. "Let me say it in words you'll understand," he said. "I want to punch you and if I stay in here any longer I will. In fact if I stay in here any longer I will take advantage of your weakened state and beat you to a pulp!"

"What did I do to you?" the cyber ninja asked, taking a step back.

"It's not what you _did_. It's what you _didn't _do." he poked Prowl in the chest, forcing him to walk backward. "You didn't follow orders. You didn't listen to advice. You didn't even do anything by the book in this dimension or in your own. I was inside your head for awhile Prowl! I've seen the things you've been through. Now while I don't understand them, I was led to believe that you learned your lessons! It looks like you didn't!"

Prowl looked away. "That does not explain why you are so angry at me," he said.

"I am mad at you for two reasons," XR answered. "One you didn't let me recharge because you stupidly wanted to search the entire city for Nos-4-a2 and I was forced to follow you around and keep you out of trouble and Two you lashed out at me and the others and accused us of not caring about you or your friend. If we did not care about Sari we wouldn't have helped you look for her." he poked Prowl again, harder this time. "One other thing I'm mad about; you had to open your big mouth and tell Mira that I had a crush on her which I did not want her knowing."

"So you're mad at me because I told the truth?"

"Oh no don't you _dare _push the blame back on me," the space ranger robot snapped. "You revealed a highly kept secret! Now Mira won't even look at me!"

"Probably because she feels the same way."

XR instantly calmed down. He blinked. "You think so?"

"It's most likely."

XR looked toward the control room. "Interesting." then he realized something. "Hey! Are you just saying that to change the subject?"

Prowl looked away again. "Sort of but not totally." he walked over to the other cell and looked inside, his optics falling on Sari's limp form. She looked so vunerable that way, so helpless. He studied her frame, noticing the puncture marks on her neck and the dried blood on her clothing. "Why was he so cruel? Why must they _all _be so cruel?"

'That's Nos-4-a2 for you," XR said, wheeling over and standing beside him. "He doesn't know what nice is."

Prowl studied Sari for a moment longer then looked at XR, his expression changing to one of pure malice. "When we find and capture him I am going to make him regret ever being built." he clenched a fist, his grip so tight his finger servos whined in protest. "I'll make sure of it. I already lost somebody important to me once, I will not let it happen again!"

* * *

Nos-4-a2 came to a few hours later, after being carried onto Warp darkmatter's ship and placed in a cell, with a pounding headache. Moaning he grabbed his head and sat up. His optics flickered then came online... instantly taking in a smiling black face.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed, reeling back. His head hammered painfully, punishing him for moving so fast. But that wasn't the only pain. His neck hurt too. He touched the spot and felt bite marks. "Huh?"

That face laughed. "So you found them rather quickly, I see."

"Wha-" he looked back at the speaker. Now he saw her entire face. He recognized her as that crazy vampire fembot he'd fought with earlier when he'd stolen her source of food. She was sitting cat like in front of him, her taloned hands clenching and unclenching themselves in anticipation. "You again."

She smirked. "Yes me again," she said. "Did you expect me to let you get away with humiliating me the way you did?"

He squinted at her. Why was the light so bright? Why did hangovers have to make his senses go crazy anyway? "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Of course you do," she said, leaning toward him like a vulture. "If you didn't we wouldn't be having this conversation, Nos-4-a2."

"How do you know my name?" he demanded.

She moved back, sitting on her haunches. "That's an easy one," she said, her smile widening until he saw her white metal fangs. "your father told me."

"My fa-" _Oh lovely! _"You mean Zurg."

"Yeah him,"she said waving that off. "The purple freak in the dress." she made a face, informing him that she did not like Zurg all that much. That wasn't a surprise, most people didn't. "He told me all about you. How he built you for one purpose and one purpose only. To take over Star Command. Oh, how nice." she stood up and looked down at him. her hands on her hips. "He told me how you tried to take over and almost succeeded. Now is that any way to treat your dear old daddy?"

Nos-4-a2 did not reply. He could tell she was only trying to rile him. Right now he didn't feel like being riled. His head was pounding and her voice was only making things worse because it was so loud. Didn't she know how to whisper? He rested his head in his hands and moaned.

"Got a little headache?" she asked, hearing.

"Not that it's any of your concern."

"Oh it _is_ my concern," she responded, kneeling in front of him again. She licked her lip components, hungrily. "It tells me something about you. You've been feeding on other worldly energy. Which leads up to the question of where you got it."

No reply. It wasn't her business.

"Not that you have to tell me," she continued, running a finger down his face. He smacked it away.. "I can figure it out through process of elimination. There are only three beings that could have that kind of power. Me, Prowl, and the techno organic freak. Now I know you haven't been feeding on me because I was stuck on your daddy's little planet. And it wasn't Prowl because he had no bites on his neck except the remains from my own feeding. So....that only leaves one person." she grabbed his chin and looked into his eyes. "The freak."

Nos didn't respond.

She smiled. "You don't have to tell me, I know already. That little puppet show told me enough. There was no way you could control her without biting and plus the dried mech fluid on her clothing was a dead give away." she let him go, allowing him to fall back onto the floor, and stood back up. "Interesting. You've been feeding on her and by the way you've been acting. you're really enjoying it." she laughed. "That's rich! My rival has a taste for techno organic power and he's addicted to it too! I knew you were a pathetic wannabe but I didn't know you were that pathetic! Hahahaa!"

Her laughter was only making his headache worse. He started to feel sick, like he had to throw up. Which is xcactly what he did two seconds later. He turned his back to her and started retching, hurling black oil onto the floor. She stopped laughing and looked down at him in disgust.

_So repulsive. _she thought, curling up her lips in disgust. _Such a filthy creature. He has no self respect. He shouldn't be calling himself a vampire. _

When he stopped throwing up he looked back at her and saw the repulsed expression on her face. "You did not have to watch," he growled, wiping off his mouth. Why had she? Was she just looking for more things to mock him about?

Not that she didn't have any disgusting factors herself. He touched his neck again where she'd bitten him. The very fact that she'd dared to use him as a food source sent a wave of hatred coursing through his frame. How dare she! How dare she violate him like that?!

She watched him touch his neck and saw the look of pure rage crossing hims features. For some reason the look sent a thrill through her, as if his loathing was what gave her pleasure. _Yes, that's right. I did the forbidden act. _

As if reading her thoughts, Nos looked back at her, his optics burning with intense hatred. "I won't forget this," he told her. "You're not going to get away with it."

"If you're thinking of taking me out now I wouldn't advice it," she told him. "Besides it wasn't like I _planned_ to feed on you, you stupid machine." she made that disgusted face again though the revulsion didn't reach her optics. "You gave me no choice, you dumb drunk."

His strength was returning as his rage grew greater. He slowly lifted off the floor until he was face to face with her. "I would advice you keeping your insults to yourself, wench," he growled hovering right in front of her face. "Let me ask you something, and you don't have to confirm if it you don't feel you have to but.. by any chance has dear old daddy promised you something you want more than anything else if you bring me to him?"

She didn't missed the sarcasm in his voice. "What he promised me does not concern you," she stated, folding her arms. "But, no, he did not. All he said was that we had a common goal in mind. I want you dead and he wants you dead."

Nos-4-a2 frowned. "So he never promised you anything?"

"I don't _want_ anything from him."

He grinned, showing his fangs. "Oh but I think you do want something, even if it's not from him," he replied. He poked her in the chest. "I think I know exactly what you want. Maybe you weren't aware of it but I heard your conversation with that black and gold robot back on Trade World. By the way you spoke to him I could tell that you consider him your property."

She shoved his hand away. "What is it to you?" she demanded. "It's not like you'll ever see him again after this. Zurg's going to kill you and I'm going to enjoy the moment when he does."

Nos was still grinning which bothered her. "Don't think it will be that easy," he stated. "I still have ways of turning things around and when I am able to free myself, which will be before the intended event you mentioned, I think I'll have a taste of that other robot."

Just the thought of him even laying a finger on Prowl's frame filled her with rage. She punched him in the face, knocking him across the room. He slammed into the wall, denting it before bouncing off. "You will keep away from him," she growled, stalking over to him and kicking his body which now lay on the floor. "That robot belongs to me! I won't allow you to lay for filthy hands on any of my toys!" she slammed her foot into his back between the holes in his cape where his wings sprouted. "Do you hear me?!"

Even though he was in pain he couldn't help laughing. So there _was _something. He looked over his shoulder, his optics locking with hers. "If you want to keep your claim I would suggest renewing it before I overwrite it."

The fembot energy vampire knelt down and grabbed him forcing him around until he was facing her. "What you seem to forget, Nos-4-a2," she growled, through clenched teeth. "Is that you can't lay a claim on him while I have a claim on you!" she touched the bite marks on his neck, making him flinch. "You see this? It means something very profound, which I am sure you are aware of since you have the same ability. I can make you my servant anytime I want and, while you're already an energy vampire, this will allow me to control you because." and it was her turn to grin. "You are now infected with a virus."

* * *

Prowl was having another nightmare.

After he'd finished conversing with XR he'd taken the other robots advice and lain back down to recharge. He was low on energy again so going into stasis was a good idea. He had lost the item the LGMs had given him before they left so he had to wait until they arrived baak at Star Command to raise his power level. He was hoping to be able to sleep until they got back to the space station. But it looked like he wasn't going get accomplish his desire. Right now he lay on a cot in the other cell in the brig tossing and turning as he dreamt about energy vampires.

Yes vampires plural.

Both Shadowstar and Nos-4-a2 were in his nightmare and they were after him. In fact they seemed to be fighting over him as if he was some kind of prize. He was trying to escape them, in vehicle mode and racing over the familiar red terrain. It was almost like a sequel to his other dream. Same sky, same ground, same scent.. the metallic smell of human blood.

He had to escape from this hell. He didn't belong there. He didn't belong to them. So he drove without stopping, hoping to get away.

But he didn't get far.

Sari, clad in a blowing red gown blocked the road. Her optics glowed a hateful red color and she held a glowing red blade in each hand. "Going somewhere, coward?" she asked.

"Sari, move," he ordered, backing up slightly.

"Why should I?" she asked, stalking toward him. "Why should I do _anything_ for you after what you did not do for me? If they kill you it's because you deserved it. You deserve everything you get."

"Sari," Prowl tried to reason with her. "I didn't mean-"

"Save it, coward." she raised her eyes and grinned. "They're coming."

He turned just as both vampires swooped at him and grabbed him up. As they flew off, the vampires laughed in sync then he felt two sets of sharp metal fangs sinking into both sides of his neck.

* * *

"NO!" Prowl yelled, sitting bolt upright. Panting, he looked around himself, his optics searching the room for the vampires. They were not there but he found himself in a cell.

Why was he in a cell?! He couldn't remember. Why couldn't he remember?!

Panicking the Autobot bolted to his feet and charged at the door that flung open the instant he rested his hands on it. He let out a yelp of surprise as he lost his footing and fell crashing to the floor of the brig. Moaning he pushed himself onto his hands and knees and looked around. Now he recognized his surroundings. He was in 42 with Buzz and his team. No enemies and no vampires.

"No.. no enemies."

Footsteps alerted him of an approaching figure. He turned his head toward the door just as Mira Nova ghosted through it. That ability of her always fascinated him but now wasn't the time to ask her about it. The red haired woman looked down at him worriedly. "Are you all right?" she asked.

"I am fine," he replied, looking away. 'I was just having a nightmare and..."

"Oh." understanding crossed her face. She walked over to him and knelt down, offering her hand. "Here, let me help you up."

He gratefully took the offered digit. She helped him to his feet. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she said. "How are you feeling?"

"About as good as I _can _feel," he replied resting his head in his hand. "But I need to refuel soon or I won't be much good to anyone." he looked toward the cell, his optics falling on the empty cot. "I need to lie down."

Mira offered him her arm and he took it. She walked him back to the cot and sat down beside him once they were back in the cell. "The LGMs should have something for you once we get back to Star Command," she told him. "Buzz let them know ahead of time."

"Let him know I appreciate it." he was silent for a moment then said. "I don't get it.. I don't understand anything anymore."

"About what?" she questioned.

"This," he replied, waving his hands indicating the entire situation. "Every time it seems something is going to go right everything changes and worse things happen."

"That's just how it is I guess," Mira said, shrugging. "Hopefully things will get better soon."

"They won't be better until Sari's will is free and we have that vampire.. both of them," Prowl replied, clenching his fists. That rage crossed his features once more then vanished. "None of this would have happened if I hadn't asked Sari to set the space bridge up. I never should have asked her. I should have asked Bulkhead."

"Would it have changed anything?" she questioned.

"Nos-4-a2 wouldn't have bitten Sari," he told her. "and Bulkhead could have easily taken Shadowstar out before everything got messed up." he signed. "I shouldn't have let this happen. I should have known better." he rested his head in his hands. "This is what I get for being so selfish."

Mira rested her hand on his shoulder. He looked at her. "You couldn't have known," she told him. "It wasn't your fault. You can't see into the future. What happened, happened. The only thing we can do now is fix things." she smiled slightly. "We will get both Shadowstar and Nos-4-a2, don't worry. Once he's in custody we'll force him to release his hold on her free will. It can't be too hard."

He said nothing for a moment. The Tangean had a point. "But," he said, looking away. "can't you do anything for Sari now? I mean you can reach inside her head. Can't you break his control on her?"

Mira shook her head. "Where it is is a delicate area. If I try to alter or break his control I could kill her."

Prowl did not want that to happen. He didn't know what he would do it she died. "So what's going to happen to her?"

"Maybe the LGM's can think of something."

"Yes.. maybe they can.." but he wasn't sure he wanted them touching her. He was afraid they might do something horrible just to satisfy their curiosity. "I don't want them to."

"Why not?"

"Because they might not stop there," he replied, his expression changing to tormented. "I don't want her to be subjected to that."

"Don't worry," she assured him. "They won't. We'll make sure they don't."

"I hope so..."


	29. Chapter 29

CHAP 29

A virus. A virus and a claim. How Ironic.

These two things ran through Nos-4-a2's head as he lay on the floor of his cell in the brig of Warp Darkmatter's ship.

After the fembot had dropped that bombshell she'd forced a pair of electronic handcuffs onto his wrists, even against his violent struggling, then left him where he was. Left him to think about the things she'd told him. This was bad. This was real bad.

_I am her... no. That's not going to happen, _he vowed to himself.

But how was he going to prevent it? The thing was a virus. It wasn't like how he could control machines.. This was beyond his abilities. Like it would make any difference soon. He was being taken to planet Z which meant Evil Emperor Zurg would have him terminated.

_Lovely.._

Not if he could help it. Oh no. This wasn't going to happen. The rules were going to change right here and right now. No revenge for either of them and no slaves for Shadowstar. If she wanted to control anything she could do it with her little black and gold toy. He wouldn't be her servant.

But... how was he going to prevent it? How was he going to do anything in this state? His head was still pounding and his energy felt depleted. Plus, with his hand secured tightly behind his back he couldn't even attempt an escape. The cards were against him.

No.. he couldn't do anything now. He didn't even want to be awake right now. It was just....

His eyes dimmed then flickered out as he fell into stasis.

* * *

_A few hours later: Star Command_

Six LGMs carried Sari out of 42 on a stretcher. The techno organic girl had not woken once since she was taken out of Nos-4-a2's lair on Trade World. She just lay on the slab like a doll, unmoving and watched the LGM's closely. Worried that they might drop her.

"Don't worry, Prowl," Buzz said, coming up behind him. "They'll take good care of her."

"I am sure they will," the cyber ninja replied, folding his arms and watching the LGMs take her into the space station. A part of him wanted to follow them but the little aliens had discouraged it. His constant hovering would only make things harder. "But _that _is not what I am worried about."

"Really? What is wrong?"

The Autobot turned to the human Space Ranger, troubled. "I don't think it was wise to tell them that Sari is a robot," he stated.

"It couldn't be helped," Buzz told him, attempting to put his mind at ease. "If we hadn',t everyone would have wondered how Nos-4-a2 was able to control her. He can only make machines his slaves, not organics unless he turns them into wirewolves."

The cyber ninja cocked his head, unfamiliar with the term. "Wirewolves?"

"Trust me, Prowl," Buzz said, waving it off. "You don't want to know. It's way too complicated to explain"

"I see." Just then Prowl stumbled. "Whoa!" Lightyear exclaimed, grabbing his arm to steady him. "Easy now."

"Sparks," the Autobot cursed angrily. "I waited too long."

"Too long for what?"

"I think I need a recharge," Prowl siad looking at him. "No.. not _think_. I do. That damage Sari gave me drained a lot of my energy." he made a helpless face. "I'm going to need you to help me to the recharge bay, I can't do myself."

"Sure." Lightyear led him into the space station. "It's understandable that you're low on power. All that you've been through the past two days would drain any machine."

Prowl noticed XR wheeling past. He seemed to be in perfect working order, as if he didn't need to recharge himself. The robot seemed to be purposely ignoring him though, but he didn't really blame him. He deserved it."'I am sorry," he apologized.

"For what?"

"For everything. For accusing you all of not caring and not listening when you told me it was unwise to do things by myself." he shook his head, disgusted at himself for being so selfish. "I should have listened. None of this would have happened if I'd just let you all go to the hotel."

"But if you and XR hadn't gone looking for her, you never would have found her," Buzz pointed out. "and we'd all still be searching for the girl right now."

He was right. They _would_ still be looking for them if he had gone back to the hotel with the space rangers and they probably never would have found them. Something told Prowl that if they had not gone looking, Shadowstar and her comrades would have discovered his location first and taken them both away instead of just Nos-4-a2. Nobody would have been any wiser to their whereabouts if that had happened. "I just wish we had found them before Nos-4-a2 turned Sari into his servant."

"Well there's nothing we can do about it now except try to save her," Buzz replied. "and we have to go after them anyway."

"Yes, because they're all wanted criminals.."

"and because you and Sari can't exactly go back to your own time and place without that fembot."

Yes that was true. It would be cruel to leave Shadowstar in this dimension, even though part of him really wanted to. If he did Buzz and the rest of star command would have too much trouble. She didn't die easily. Prowl sighed. "Right now I just want to think about one thing at a time," he stated. "I'll worry about going home after everything has been settled."

* * *

Shadowstar paced in the small open area behind the pilot and co-pilot seats in the control room in Warp's ship. It was no more than five feet by five feet across so it was a little complicated. but she had to make due. The fembot walked with her hands behind her back, muttering words to herself. Nimrod, who was seated in the co-pilot chair, was peaking over the top, watching her intently.

"It was only to stop him from escaping," she mumbled in Cybertronian so the others couldn't understand her. To them it sounded like computer noises. "Only for that. Why? " she rested her hands on her cheeks and ran her fingers down them, creating grooves in the metal. "Argh. Why must they always taste so good? " she shook her head. "Don't think about it. Just don't think about it."

"Um..."

Shadowstar, alerted by the voice, turned her head. Her red optics came to rest on Nimrod who was still watching her. "What do you want, bug?" she demanded.

"Are you all right?" he asked her.

"Of course I am," she snapped, her optics flashing green then red. "What would make you think otherwise?"

"Well you're talking to yourself and-"

"It's none of your business!" she snapped. "Who gave you permission to eavesdrop on me anyway?"

"I'm sorry." Nimrod quickly let go ot the back of the chair and turned around.

She stared at the chair for a moment, feeling bad for yelling at him. What did it matter if he was listening in. He didn't understand what she was saying anyway. Maybe she should apologize. No, that wasn't like her to do. He'd get over it. His feelings weren't her problem.

_Why am i worried about him anyway? I have my own problems with that stupid vampire. _Shadowstar continued pacing. _This better not become more than it is. Why should it? Just because he tastes almost as good as Prowl doesn't mean I should suddenly want him ahave just for food or fun or anything. _Even though the idea sounded good.

If Nos-4-a2 died she'd only have the satisfaction of him paying for a little bit and then it would fade. But keeping him alive and making him suffer would prolong it. _Yes, I did want him to suffer anyway, _she reminded herself, stopping her pacing and touching her lips with her fingers. Some of Nos-4-a2's mech fluid still stained the tips. She licked it off. _I would have too if he hadn't been over-energized. That just took away any pleasure from torturing him. But he's in his right mind now so..... _

The fembot looked toward the door that led to the brig. It was very tempting. _I could make him pay now but.. I cannot do that. I don't feel like looking at his stupid face right now. _Stupid? Was it really stupid? Strange maybe. Different maybe, but not stupid.

_Okay I will admit he is kind of cute.._

She sighed and walked over to her seat. She looked down at Nimrod then picked him up and sat down in it, letting him sit in her lap. She stared out at the black void of space, thoughtfully. _Maybe I can convince Zurg to let him live longer. _she thought. _Tell him that making the robot suffer until he begged to be killed would be a lot more fun and satisfying. I'm sure he'll go for that. _she smirked. _He seems to have a thing for torturing people, though his methods are different than mine, more... childish...._

Oh yes, blaring annoying music wasn't exactly mature or grown up. It seemed like something only a kid would do. But it had been effective.

_I doubt that kind of thing would work on Nos-4-a2, _she thought. _But if he doesn't use that he might use something just as childish. I'm going to have to talk to him about it, convince him to let me come up with better ways to make him miserable._

"Hey."

Shadowstar looked at him.

"Is there something wrong?" he questioned.

"No, why?"

"Well for one thing you seemed to have this conflicted look on your face since you came back from doing whatever you were doing with Nos-4-a2 and then you started pacing and talking to yourself." he pointed. "and then right now you got that look again."

"What look?"

"You know," he said, pointing. 'That crazy look you get when you're thinking about makimg somebody miserable."

_I have a look for that? _'How would you know what kind of look I get when I think about such things?" she demanded.

"I've studied your face," he replied. "You get this little smile that's not exactly a smile and your optics dim and change color." he grinned and folded his arms, leaning back in the chair. "So who are you thinking of punishing now, my dear?"

She frowned. "That isn't your business." she looked out the windshield and pointed. "There's our destination. Let's get this over with already." _The sooner I get this taken care of the better._

"Sure thing, doll," he said, changing course. "So what do you intend to do after this is all over? You going to hang around and do more errands for Zurg or would you rather I drop you off on Trade World?"

Shadowstar said nothing. She honestly hadn't given it much thought. What _would_ she do after this? _You will find Prowl and make him pay for sending you back to the stockade, _she reminded herself. _What else? That will take awhile too. It's not like you're going to kill him right away. That's not you. You like to prolong suffering. You'll be entertained for awhile and then..._

and then she had no idea what to do, though she did intend on going back to her own dimension, whenever that would happen.

"No," she said, leaning back in her seat and absently running her hand over Nimrod's head. "I'll just do my own thing."

* * *

"Okay, finished, you are now completely recharged."

Prowl sat up on the recharge bed and removed the wires from his chest. He looked down at the trio of LGMs hovering around as he closed his chest compartment. "Thank you," he said.

"No problem," the one LGM replied, smiling at him.

Prowl swung his legs off the bed and stood. The Autobot headed toward the door. The little aliens ran to intercept him. "Whoa! Where do you think you're going?"

The Autobot lowered his head to stare down at them. "Where does it look like I'm going?" he asked tensely. "I am going to check on my friend."

The three aliens looked at each other nervously. "I don't think that would be a good idea."

"Why not?"

They wrung their hands. "Well it's kind of complicated."

Something was up. "How is it complicated?" the cyber ninja wanted to know. A horrible thought came to him. "What have you done to her?"

"Nothing," they insisted, waving their hands in front of his face. "We just don't think you should be checking in on her right now."

'That just made him want to more. Something was going on that he didn't know about or had agreed to. _If they're doing something to her so help me I'll... _he moved toward the door. "Move before I am forced to step on you."

The LGMs scurried out of the way, not wanting to wind up as pancakes. He walked past them and pushed the door open, stepping into the hall without a look back. The LGMs watched him go then glanced back and forth amoung each other. "He's not going to be happy," one said.

"Nope," the others agreed.

Prowl moved swiftly down the hall, ignoring everyone that tried to discourage him from checking on Sari. He wasn't going to stop until he reached the LGMs work room and found out what they were doing to Sari.

_They had better not have decided to disect her even after I distinctly told them not to lay a finger on her, _he thought.

He paused and looked around himself. He had no idea where the LGMs work room was or how to get there from where he was. "Excuse me," he called to a dark skinned space ranger walking down the hall with his pink haired female comrade.

"Yes?" the dark space ranger asked.

"Where can I find the LGM's lab?" he asked.

"Done that way," he replied, pointing. "Why do you wnrt to go there?"

"I have something I need to check on."

"Oh."

Prowl thanked the man and headed the way he'd indicated. A short time later he reached the room. The moment he stepped inside he stopped and stared in horror at what he saw.

Sari lay on a table, still unconscious. LGMs scurried around her working meticulously. That wasn't what bothered him though. What did was they had her chest open and were poking around inside it with strange looking instruments.

"What the hell is this?!" he roared, instantly losing his temper.

All the LGMs stopped in their work and looked back at him, dropping their tools onto the floor. They stared in wide eyed horror at the rage filled Autobot standing in the doorway. "Uh.. this isn't what it looks like," one began to explain tentatively.

"What did I say about opening her up?" he roared, stalking over to them, too upset to keep his temper in check. Once he'd reached them he glared down at the dozen LGMs surrounding the table, his body shaking in his attempt to keep his rage from forcing him to become violent. "I said not to do that! Don't you understand _English_?!"

"Well um..," one LGM said, nervously. "We didn't plan on it but we got permission and-"

"Permission?!" Prowl exploded. "Who gave you permission to open up my friend? I know I didn't!"

"I did." said a voice behind him.

Prowl spun around and faced the speaker. Commander Nebula stood in the doorway. "You?" the cyber ninja asked, shocked.

The commander nodded.

"Who gave you the right to tell them it was okay to open up my friend?" he demanded. He felt betrayed, violated, as if he was the one lying on the table and not Sari. "You had no right to let them do any such thing to her! Sari is not your machine and she is not even a citizen of this galaxy! You didn't create her and you have no authority over what happens to her!" he slammed his fist onto a computer tower, making the dozen LGMs jump in unison. "What in Primus name were you thinking?!"

The commander let him rant, not even reacting. He just stood like a stone, his arms crossed and his expression solid.

Prowl found his indifference appalling. He could not believe the man had betrayed his trust like that. How could he? How could he do such a thing without asking Prowl first to see if it was okay?! Who did he think he was?!

The Autobot looked at the LGMs. "Close her right now," he ordered.

"Don't do that," Nebula said.

The LGMs looked at one another, conflicted.

"You did not have any right to do this to her," Prowl said, looking back at the commander. "I don't even know why you thought I wouldn't find out about it or think it was okay." he pointed into the man's face. "Why didn't you run it by me first?" he looked at the LGMs. "I TOL YOU TO CLOSE HER!"

The LGM's starting to panic scurried to obey the order. At that moment they were more afraid of Prowl than Commander Nebula. His expression had murder written on it.

"Why didn't you tell me your little friend there was a robot as well?" Commander Nebula retorted.

For a second the Autobot said nothing. It was almost as if he couldn't answer that question. Why was he asking him such a thing anyway?

Finally he said. "Because I know how you feel about machines," he replied. "I know how you feel about me. I told her not to say anything because I did not want you treating her that way. Is that why you did not tell me about this? Because you figured you didn't have to inform a machine about the dissection of another machine?" his optics filled with hurt and he clenched his shaking fists at his sides. "I might be nothing more than a machine but I am a _living _machine and Sari has organic components inside her." he met the other man's eyes. Definite. "I am not.... I am not going to stand back and let you treat her that way because of how you feel about beings like myself."

"Prowl," Commander Nebula said, walking toward him. "That is _not_ why I didn't tell you."

It wasn't? "Then _why _didn't you?"

"Because we didn't want to worry you," the man replied, standing right in front of him. "The LGMs tried to remove Nos control of her through the computer but they could not. They thought maybe opening her up would do what the computer couldn't-"

"No, that is not why," Prowl muttered, unable to believe such an excuse. 'They just wanted to see how she worked."

"Whether that's the case or not... neither option solved the problem." Commander Nebula replied. "I am sorry, but if you ever want her back we have to bring Nos-4-a2 here and force him to release his hold or she has to break his control herself. Where the control is.. it's too dangerous to remove it. She will die if we attempt it."

"Just like Mira said..." Prowl looked back at Sari's still form. "It's my fault it happened," he said.

"Don't blame yourself," Commander Nebula said. "You couldn't have done anything about it."

"No that is not true!" Prowl shouted, his anger fading away to sadness. "If I had not panicked when I tried to save her and flown away she'd still be herself and none of this would have happened." he rested his head in his hand. "I am a coward. I ran away. I never should have _run_."

Commander Nebula didn't know what to say to that. Prowl's problem was new to him, even though XR had gone through something similar a few years ago. But unlike him, this robot was taking it differently. No words would make him feel better, not any that the Commander could think of. So he used a different alterative. "You need to get over it," he said.

"What?"

"You heard me," Nebula poked his chest plate with a finger. "If you keep moping around like this you won't be of use to anyone, and that includes Sari. Do you think she'd want you feeling sorry for yourself?"

"No," he admitted.

"That's right, she would not," he said. "She'd want you to do the best you could and make things right. I know she wouldn't be happy if she saw you this way, moping about and playing the "what if" game. If you want to help her you need to get over your mistake and try to fix it."

"You're right," the cyber ninja agreed, glancing back at Sari. "Your absolutely right." _What was I thinking? I shouldn't be acting like this. Sari would want me to find Nos-4-a2 and kick his butt.. _he smirked. Those would be the exact words she would use too. "Okay." he looked back at Commander Nebula. "What can we do? Do you have any leads?"

Commander Nebula nodded. "Yes, we have," he said.

That was good. It brought him closer to saving Sari. "You know where they went?"

"Affirmative. They're heading to Planet Z."


	30. Chapter 30

CHAP 30

Evil Emperor Zurg was waiting for Warp and Shadowstar on the landing pad. On the way down Darkmatter had informed him that they would be arriving soon and he'd gone out to greet them. When the blue skinned alien touched down and turned off the ships power the evil emperor walked toward them. He was smiling.

"Ah Shadowstar," he said, walking toward the femme with his arms stretched out wide as she disembarked. "You're back sooner than I thought you would be. How was the hunt? Did you catch anything?"

The fembot smirked. "If I hadn't I wouldn't be here now would I?" she asked.

The vampire femme set Nimrod down and allowed him to join the other Grubs that had followed the evil emperor to the landing pad. They were holding his cape up so it would not touch the platform. She turned and pointed to the ship. "He's in the brig, waiting for somebody to come and get him." she looked back at him, smirking. "Want me to bring him out for you or do you want to do the honors?"

"Oh no," he said, waving his hands. "I'll leave that to you." he turned around. "I'll wait for him in my throne room. Don't have too much fun with him on the way. Hahahahaa!"

Shadowstar glared at the back of his head, disgusted by what he was insinuating. "Why in the Pit would he even think such a thing?" she muttered, climbing back into the ship and heading toward the brig. She caught warp's eye. He smiled at her in a funny way. She bared her fangs and growled. He quickly moved to follow Zurg into the palace.

Shadowstar opened the door and stepped inside the brig. When she reached the door to the cell she stopped and stared down at the energy vampire who lay sprawled on the floor, unmoving. She thought she heard him snoring. Was he in sleep mode?

For some odd reason the fact that he was sleeping made her hesitent about waking him. She stared down at his form, undecided. Should she really do it now or wait? Was he the kind of being that was crabby when rudely awakened? She herself was and would often lash out at anyone who decided to bring her out of sleep mode before she was ready. Starscream was he witness. He'd gotten many a bite for doing so.

Would Nos-4-a2 bite her if she tried?

"Oh no, there's no way I am going to let that happen," she muttered. "He's not going to bite me." She would just stay out of the range of his teeth when she did it. Right here was fine.

Shadowstar reached up and rapped her hand lightly on the bars. "Hey, Nossy," she said, in a loud voice so he would hear her. "Wakey wakey."

Nos-4-a2 moaned and rolled onto his back. His optics blinked on and she felt them resting on her sleek, black and red frame. "What do you want?" he growled, clearly unhappy that she'd woken him out of recharge.

"We're on planet Z, my pet," she said in a sarcastic tone. The femme rested her arms on the bars and smirked. "I've come to get you so I can take you into the palace."

"So we're here," he stated flatly. The fact didn't seem to really bother him. She wondered why but didn't ask. "I guess this means you will be getting your petty revenge then."

"Petty?" she snapped, grasping the bars so hard her servos whined in protest. "How dare you call it petty!"

"They are petty," he stated, sitting up. He would have pointed at her but his hands were cuffed behind his back and he could not move them. "You only want to get rid of me because I ate your lunch, which was really my property anyway. You would not be doing any of this if I had just given it to you. If I had.." he smirked. "I bet you and I would have become partners."

"Don't count on it," she snapped, opening the door and stepping inside. She loomed over him, black hands resting on her red pelvis. "I don't do partnerships. I would rather work alone."

"Funny," he said as if remembering something. "You seemed to work well with the blue skinned organic."

"Shut up!" she snapped, clenching her hands into fists. "You have no idea what you're talking about. I only worked with that flesh bag because he was helping me get to you. If it wasn't for the fact that he was my only source of transportation through this pit forsaken dimension I never would have worked with him."

"Yes, indeed," he agreed spitefully. "Or maybe you're just telling yourself that to deny your true feelings."

That did it. She grabbed his neck and shoved him roughly against the wall. "I would advice shutting your trap, you stupid wannabe," she growled. "Unless you have a thing for pain." She raised her other hand, flexing her talons. "Do you like pain because I enjoy inflicting it."

He wasn't even intimidated by her words. He returned her gaze without flinching, though her grip was hurting his neck. "Do you actually think that works?" he questioned. "Has anyone ever listened when you ordered them to be quiet?"

She didn't want to get into any kind of discussions with him about whether people obeyed her or not. Instead she lifted him up by the neck and threw him roughly to the floor. He landed outside of the cell on his stomach. She followed him out then knelt down and grabbed his shoulder, manhandling him roughly. "Time to go, Nossy," she said, wrapping an around around his neck. "It's time to pay the piper."

He did not respond because he was sending an urgent mental distress signal to his current servant who lay resting in the LGM's lab on Star Command.

* * *

"Planet Z?" Prowl asked, unfamiliar with the name. "What is that?"

"It's the home of Evil Emperor Zurg."

The Autobot did not know who that was either though he remembered the Space Rangers mentioning the creature before. When they thought she and Sari were working for him. That clued him in that this guy was evil, that and his name. "Evil" was never used for nice people. That would be a contradiction. "Why do you think they went to the home planet of this Zurg?" he questioned.

"Well for one thing Warp Darkmatter works for Evil Emperor Zurg." Commander Nebula explained. "and for another Zurg is responsible for Nos-4-a2's existence."

"What?!" Prowl stared at him.

"Yes, he built him."

"He built him!?" the cyber ninja exclaimed. "Why would he do that?"

"He tried to use him to take control of Star Command," Nebula explained as they walked down the hall. "But thanks to Buzz Lightyear and XR he was stopped. Ever since then Nos-4-a2 has been causing problems." he shook his head. "I thought all that ended two years ago when Tye Parsec destroyed him but, when we found out he was rebuilt well..."

"What could Zurg want with him?" Prowl questioned. "Does he want to use him to take over again and what does that have to do with Shadowstar?"

The human shrugged. "I don't think Zurg is going to use Nos-4-a2 to take over again," he told him. "Especially since Nos-4-a2 dethroned him."

This was getting worse and worse. "Oh really?"

"Yes, so I doubt he wants his cooperation again. As for why your vampire would be helping Zurg.." he gave a helpless gesture. "Your guess is as good as mine."

Prowl looked away. Shadowstar had always been very hard to figure out. Even when she was causing problems for himself and the other Autobots, her motives had always been fuzzy. He knew she wanted to become a normal transformer who didn't have to feed off of other robots.. even though most of the time it seemed she enjoyed doing that, especially if it was him she was feeding on. But she'd refused the help she was offered and accused him and Ratchet of doing to her exactly what Perceptor had done. When she'd mentioned working for Megatron he'd seen she had not liked that either. It was obvious she didn't like authority figures having some kind of hold over her.

So why would she agree to help Zurg capture Nos-4-a2? Had he promised her something? Had he told her he could help complete her spark? Not likely. There was no way Zurg would be able to know why Shadowstar was the way she was, if he even knew she was a vampire.

_So then what's this all about? _he asked himself. _What's her motive? What's his motive? _

"So what are you going to do?" the cyber ninja questioned the Commander. "How soon are you planning on sending somebody to planet Z to get him back?"

"As soon as possible."

"I'm going too."

Commander Nebula paused. He looked at the Autobot for a moment then said. "I am sorry, Prowl, but I don't think that would be a good idea."

"Why not?" Prowl asked.

"It might not be a good idea," he replied. "You haven't been very rational since she was taken and we can't chance you making the situation worse."

"You do know that if you don't allow me to go I will just do it anyway," he stated stubbornly. "Or maybe I should just go myself, seeing as Shadowstar is my problem."

"She's not your problem anymore if she's working for Zurg," Nebula said. "Zurg is our problem."

"But Shadowstar is mine."

"Yes, I am aware of that," Commander Nebula consented. "But in the state you're in I don't think it's a good idea. Maybe if you calmed down a bit and did something about your anger then I would change my mind."

_My anger? _The Autobot stopped. He_ had _been acting out of character lately. It wasn't just the incident with the LGM's either. But other stuff as well. If he kept this up he wouldn't be any good to anyone, most of all Sari. "You're right," he said, shaking his head. "I haven't been myself." he started to walk away.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I wish to be alone for a bit," Prowl replied, looking back at him. "Don't worry I am not leaving the Space Station. I just wish to find a quiet place where I can do some thinking."

Commander Nebula moved to follow him. "Then come with me" he said, grabbing his arm. "I know of just the place."

* * *

"Ah the prodical son has returned," Zurg said, walking over to Shadowstar who held tightly to a struggling Nos-4-a2 when they'd entered the throne room of Zurg's palace. He stood in front of the energy vampire, his hands clasped behind his back, and smirked. "How nice to see you again."

Nos-4-a2 didn't respond but the look on his face said the feeling was not mutual.

"What's the matter?" Zurg taunted, cocking his head to the side. "Have no words for your dear old daddy?"

The energy vampire still didn't bother replying. It wasn't because he had nothing to say, it was mostly due to the fact that he had so many things he wanted to say that they could not come out.

"So you got nothing?" Zurg continued, poking Nos' face with a slender gauntleted finger. "No insults, no idle threats?" he made a face. "I'm disappointed. Surely you have _something."_

Nos-4-a2's only come back was a cat-like hiss escaping from teeth clenched in fury.

"Why does it matter?" Shadowstar questioned, looking from her prisoner to his creator with distaste. "It's not like anything he says will change what is going to happen." she frowned and her expression looked vulnerable for a view seconds. As if she was having some kind of internal conflict. _Youy want to kill him. I don't want that. Not right now. I want to have some fun. I haven't had any fun since I made Prowl my slave. _"After all you're just going to kill him."

"On the contrary, my dear," Zurg said looking over at her. When her optics flickered in startlement, he pointed into the air with the same finger he'd used to poke Nos with. "I intend to kill him after I have a little fun."

Now that sounded better. "Mind if I ask what kind of fun?" she questioned, hoping she did not sound too eager.

"I don't know," he replied, waving his hand. He turned away."Whatever kind I can think of."

_You mean what __**I **__can think of. _Now she was grinning. "Oh I think I can come up with a few things, if you're interested."

"Oh really?" Zurg looked back at her, curious. "and what kind of things would that be?"

The fembot let go of Nos body. He was unable to keep himself suspended and flopped painfully onto the floor. She probed him suggestively with the toe of her foot before replying. "Oh nothing too drastic. Just something that will make him regret ever crossing either of us."

Zurg watched what she did and listened to what she said before asking. "How do I know what you're saying is true?" he looked her over, doubtful. "How am I even going to be sure you're good?"

Shadowstar smiled. "Oh trust me, Zurgy," she replied, walking over to him. She reached up and poked his forehead with her taloned index finger. "I am_ very _good at what I do." the smile widened into a grin, her optics dimming as she bared her small, white fangs. "Would you like me to show you?"

The femme's closeness and the strange, sadistic expression that crossed her face made Zurg nervous. He backed away, out of reach of her probing finger. "Uh no, I don't think that will be necessary." he waved his hand again, forcing himself to keep his composure. "You just do what you have to do."

She frowned, looking disappointed. "Excellent," she said dryly. She turned away and returned to Nos who'd been watching. As she reached down to pick him up he smirked. "What?" she demanded.

"It's a shame we couldn't have met on better terms," he commented. "It might have been interesting."

Shadowstar made a face. "Don't get cute," she growled, dragging him toward the exit door, staying a few steps behind the evil emperor. "You won't be thinking that once I'm through with you."

"Oh, I'm not so sure," he said, looking away from her. His optics focused on the high ceiling. "There might just be plenty of time to find out, my dear."

* * *

_Little one...._

The voice echoed in Sari's head as she lay unconscious on the examining table. The LGM's had closed up her chest and then left the lab, going back to their other tasks. They figured, since she hadn't woken up at all during the examination, that she would be fine by herself.

_Little one... Hear me, Little One, Nos-4-a2 calls to you._

"Master," she whispered, stirring.

_I need you. Come to your Dark Master.._

"Dark... Master.." Sari's eyes flew open, glowing blood red. She sat up and looked around herself, squinting in the darkness. The door.. where was the door?

Ah! Across the room. She grinned. "Yes."

Without even setting her feet on the floor she launched herself into the air and landed right in front of the exit. She reached out and touched the metal door. It did not open. It was locked. A precaution the LGMs had taken in case she did wake up while they were not there. Maybe shackling her to the table would have been a better idea.

Well no matter. One little door wasn't going to stand between her and her master.

Sari stepped back, opening her hands and creating an energy orb twice the size of her head. She took a few more steps back to give herself the right amount of room then let it loose. The orb crashed into the door, exploding it off its hinges and sending it flying out into the hall, crashing into XR who'd been wheeling to the lab to check on her. It slammed into his chest and knocked him into the wall.

"Ow," he moaned his optics only half functional. "What hit me?"

A shadow fell over him and he looked up, startled. Sari stood in the doorway. Her blood red eyes slowly scanned the hall. XR went still, not wanting to alert her of his presense. Her gaze fell on the spot where he lay. For a moment it seemed her eyes were locked on his and he felt a chill go through his frame. Was she going to do something to him? He almost panicked.

The robot need not have worried. After a few seconds Sari's eyes left him and she turned away, heading down the hall, both of her hands glowing ice blue.

* * *

Prowl sat cross legged on the floor of the Danger Room( I can't exactly remember what they called it anymore. It was the room the space rangers train in) in deep meditation. As it turned out that was the only room currently not being used at the moment and Commander Nebula assured him that he could have it to himself as long as he wanted. The cyber ninja had thanked him then the man left him to himself.

It was a good thing too. The Autobot needed some time to just think things over and calm himself and the presense of another person would only hinder that. As he'd realized earlier he was too tense and wasn't acting like himself. He figured out why just awhile ago. He cared deeply for Sari as far as a friend could and didn't want her winding up like Master Yoketron. Dead.

That was one thing Prowl could not reverse.

_But it won't happen, _he promised himself. _Not this time. I'll make sure of it._

_How are you going to do that? _the little voice of doubt questioned. _Are you going to kill Nos-4-a2? If you do you won't be any better than he is._

_No, I'm not going to kill him. I can't do that. Autobots aren't murderers. _But he had been entertaining the idea which bothered him. He should not have allowed himself to lose so much self control that he would let himself think of doing such a thing, even if Nos-4-a2 did deserve nothing less.

_It's not going to happen either. I can't let myself lose control. I'm not a Decepticon. _

That thought made him uncomfortable. It reminded him of the time he and Lockdown teamed up and he'd been so brutal to the Starscream clones when he'd worked hard to capture them. The light red one had asked him if he was sure he didn't have Decepticon programing. No.. he _wasn't_ sure. The earliest part of his life was foggy and he'd been through so much he couldn't remember everything. But.. even if he didn't ,even Autobots were capable of doing such things.

_Not me. It won't happen. I will save Sari.. without resorting to such brutality. _

The faint sound of an alarm going off alerted him to his current problem. He turned his head, his optics brightening to full brilliance under his visor. What was that? What was happening?

His curiosity got the best of him. The Autobot stood and moved quickly toward the exit. As soon as he drew near, the large metal doors hissed open. He dashed out into the hall and came across two space rangers running in the opposite direction. The two he'd met earlier when he was looking for the LGM's lab. They were running toward him, looking panicky. Right away he knew something was wrong.

"What's happened?" he questioned. them when they were near enough to hear him.

"The techno organic girl," the dark skinned ranger replied, glancing nervously over his shoulder. "She's awake."

_Sari's awake? _Somehow that knowledge didn't make him feel any better. Yes it was a relief that the LGMs probing hadn't caused any ill effects, but that did not mean she was herself. "Did she say anything to you?"

The two space rangers looked back the way they came. Prowl too looked down the hall. He thought he heard laser fire. A horrible feeling washed over him. "No.. this can't be."

The rangers looked at him questioningly. Prowl didn't look at them. Instead he took off down the halll, leaving them both with confused expressions. As the Autobot drew nearer to the chaos he heard another sound that was more familiar to him than laser fire. The high pitched noise of Sari when she activated her battle armor. _Oh no!_

Then he'd reached his destination. Before him crouched a group of Space Rangers all aiming their arm lasers and firing at Sari who stood in full battle gear. The red blast didn't seem to effect her much, almost as if she was impervious to them. Suddenly she opened both her hands and fired energy orb after energy orb at them assembled group. The rangers ducked in cover. The moment they did she rushed them, activating her hammer and brutally hitting the rangers in the chests. It it wasn't for the light yet strong armor of their suits she would have killed them all.

The rangers flew across the room, landing at Prowl's feet.

"Ugh, that girl hits harder than she looks," one commented, pushing himself up off the floor. He noticed Prowl standing over him. "Mind dealing with your friend?"

"I..." Prowl looked back at Sari. She looked at him and their eyes locked. For the briefest moment her expression changed and her eyes flickered to blue then back to red. She let out a banshee like scream and charged, activating both her blades.

Prowl readied himself for the blow that was likely to come but at the last second she seemed to change her mind. She twisted around and dashed down the hall, ignoring him. Prowl watched her go, surprised and confused. Why hadn't she tried to kill him?

"Prowl!" a voice called to him.

He turned around in time to see Booster and Mira running toward her. They all had the same urgent look on their faces. "Sari's awake!"

"Yes, I know," he responded as the space rangers at his feet slowly got up. "She just ran past me.":

"Well didn't you try to stop her?" Booster asked.

The Autobot did not answer. He looked down the hall. "I think we should go after her," he started, purposely changing the subject. "before she causes anymore damage."

* * *

Sari made her way to the hanger where all the space ships were docked. One the way she ran into a lot of opposite which she took out easily thanks to Nos-4-a2 lending her some of his power. If not for that she would not have made it that far. Still it was a chore. Those space rangers were stubborn soldiers and didn't go down easily, except for the rookies. But she didn't mind too much. It was fun to put those wannabes in their place.

Sari walked down the platform in the hanger toward _42_, her senses on alert in case there were more space rangers waiting for her in there. She looked around the docking bay, studying the many ships. _I should do something about them, _she thought. _I don't want anyone going after me. Master would not like that. _she created two energy orbs and threw them at the ships.

The spheres crashed into two of the ships, exploding on impact and sending the machines crashing to the floor. She moved around the hanger, doing the same to every ship she could find. It too took some time but still nobody was interfering which could either be good or bad. Were they just going to allow her to destroy their ships without trying to stop her?

All well.

Sari had nearly finished when she was hit in the back with laser fire.


	31. Chapter 31

CHAP 31

Sari screamed in pain and spun around angrily. She spotted Buzz Lightyear standing on the platform behind her, his laser glove aimed at her. "Hold it right there, Miss Sumdac," he ordered. "Destroying Star Command property is a serious offense."

"I'm sure it is, Lightyear," she growled, rubbing the sore spot on her back where his laser had struck her. "But does it look like I care? I am only making sure I won't be followed or prevented from obeying orders. You shall not prevent me from saving my master!"

_His hold on her sure is strong. _"Nos-4-a2's not your master, Sari," Lightyear stated, attempting to reason with her. He slowly moved toward her. "He's an evil energy vampire that's taken control of you. He doesn't care about you. He's just using you for his own gain."

"No!" She came at him, activating her blades and swinging them at his face. He easily dodged them. "Don't you say such things about my Master!" she yelled incensed. "I won't hear such blasphemy! You will pay!"

Buzz grabbed her arm, preventing her from stabbing at him with those infinitely sharp blades. She yanked on his hand, trying to free herself. "Let me go!"

Lightyear had no intention of obeying such an order. It would be a mistake to do such a thing. "Now Sari, just calm down," he said in a soothing voice. "Don't let him control you. Try to break his hold."

She glared at him. "Let go of my arm, Lightyear," she growled, her voice strangely deep and menacing.

He shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't do that."

"You _will_ do it!' she screamed, aiming a kick at his stomach. He dodged out of her way without breaking his hold. "Because if you don't I will find out just how wonderful you really are!" her eyes started glowing as well as her hands. 'Let's see you go up against a Cybertronian hybrid!"

She activated the blade in her left arm. Screaming she swung at him, barely missing his stomach. Buzz tried to grab her arm but missed, nearly getting his own arm sliced off in the process. She kept up the onslaught, trying to force him to release her. Eventually he did, realizing he had no other choice. If he kept on holding it he might get seriously injured or worse.

Buzz let her go and back flipped away. Or at least tried to. Sari struck out with her foot, hitting him in the stomach when he landed on his hands and sending him flying across the room until he slammed into the wall. He landed heavily on the floor, his stomach and back both crying out in unison.

"She sure hits hard," he grunted, getting unsteadily to his feet. He heard running footsteps and looked up just in time to see Sari aim a kick at his head.

Luckily he dodged the blow just in time, diving sideways. Her foot hit the wall instead sending off a loud metallic ringing. She screamed again and twisted to face him. By then Lightyear had gotten to his feet. He acted first, springing at the girl and tackling her to the floor.

"Get off me!" she screamed, struggling to break his hold on her arms.

Lightyear held on, even though he was having a hard time do it. The girl had been strong before but now, since Nos-4-a2 had given her some of his dark energy, she was even stronger. "I won't let you go until you return to your senses," he said, meeting her red eyes. "Come on, Sari. Fight him. Do it for Prowl and everyone you care about."

His words were not getting through. She glared at him. "What do you know about what I care about?" she hissed. "You know nothing about me, Buzz Lightyear!"

A stabbing pain shot down his arm. He gasped at looked at it. One of Sari's blades was sticking out of the limb, crackling as the blood dried around it.

Lightyear's reflexes took over and he jerked back, releasing his hold on the girl and grabbing the wounded limb. Blood oozed from his fingers and he cursed. When he did this sari saw her chance. Springing to her feet she reacticated the sword and lunged at him, plunging it right through his suit's chest plate.

* * *

"Where did she go?" Booster asked, looking around the hall in hopes of catching sight of a girl in a orange and yellow dress. "She can't have just disappeared, unless she's part Tangean."

Prowl didn't reply. He stood still and looked around the hall, his mind working at mile a minute and processing problems at much quicker speeds. He tried something else too. Something that might just tell them exactly where she was.

Tapping into his empathy link he shared with the girl, he tried to locate her by pin pointing her feelings. As he looked to his left a sudden rage washed over his frame. It was so powerful he nearly succumbed to it himself, but he was able to over come it and the only thing the space rangers saw him do was punch the wall and let out a hissing breath.

"Prowl?" Mira asked looking at him worriedly. "Are you all right?"

"I.. I am fine," he panted, dropping his arm to his side. He looked at her. "I know where she is."

* * *

Buzz's eyes widened his surprise as he stared at the gilr's rage filled face then his eyes slid downward until they rested on the glowing blue blade sticking out of his chest. Sari brutally yanked the blade out of his chest. He fell to the floor, blood spurting from the wound and immediately pooling around him. He groaned, wrapping his arm around the it in an attempt to staunch the flow and trying to push himself up. His eyes met Sari's who was staring down at him. For the briefest of moment her expression changed and she looked like the girl he'd met two days ago. She looked horrified at what she'd just done. Her mouth moved but no words came out. Then her face reverted back to the cold and murderous expression it wore previously. "Serves you right," she growled. She raised her blades. "How about I put you out of your misery?"

Just then the door behind her burst open. "Sari!" a voice called.

The girl froze and looked over her shoulder. Prowl, Mira, and Booster stood in the doorway. Prowl and the two rookies were staring at the scene before them in horror. "What have you done!?" Booster exclaimed.

Sari bolted, rushing over to _42_ and jumping up to grab onto the ladder. Her hand grasped one of the rungs and she hoisted herself up and began to climb.

"Buzz!" Booster shouted, running to the fallen space ranger as Mira and Prowl chased after the girl.

Mira stopped at the end and fired her arm laser at the the fleeing techno organic. Prowl grabbed her arm to stop her. "Don't do that!" he shouted. "You could make her fall!"

The Tangean looked at him, her face hardening. "Right now Prowl I don't care _what_ happens to her," she said. "Not after what she just did to Buzz."

Prowl didn't let go. "But it wasn't her fault!" he insisted.

She wrested her arm away. "I'm sorry."

While she proceeded to fire up at Sari, Prowl in turn activated his jetpack and shot into the air after the fleeing girl. Maybe he could grab her before she got away or hurt. He was halfway to her when she suddenly turned. Their eyes met but she showed no sign of recognition except a hateful expression. The Autobot attempted to say something but didn't get to utter a single syllable. The girl created an energy orb and threw it down at him. He could not move in time and it struck him in the chest.

Grunting he was send plummeting back down to the platform. Mira saw him coming and quickly dived out of the way. He hit the floor with a crash, denting the metal.

"Prowl!" the Tangean shouted, rushing over to him. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," he said, sitting up. He rested his hand on his head. "But-"

_42'_s engines fired up. Both looked toward the ship. Sari had managed to climb inside. The little door in the side of the hull was shut.

"Sari!" Prowl shouted, instantly on his feet. The vibrating of the floor thanks to the space ships engines made him stumble. Mira moved to steady him. "Easy now."

Prowl looked at Mira, his expression desperate. "You have to stop her."

She stared at him "Me?"

the Autobot nodded. "Yes," he replied. "You're the only one who can get inside that ship without using the door." he pointed up at _42_. 'That's going to take off any minute. Please. Don't let her get away."

She nodded a determined look crossing her face. "Right."

The Tanegean space ranger activated her jetpack and shot into the air. "Help Buzz!" she called back to him.

When Mira ghosted into the hull Prowl turned back to Booster who was carefully helping Buzz stand. Prowl moved over to help him, his optics locking on the growing red bloodstain on the floor. For a few seconds he just stood there, horrified at the brutality Sari had shown. How could she do such a thing? Even if she was under Nos-4-a2's control she could have at least tried to keep it from getting this bad.

A terrible thought crossed his mind. What if she'd _wanted _to do this? She'd never gotten along with either Buzz or XR.. could this possibly be a manifistation of her hatred? Did she dispise them both that much?

No, he couldn't allow himself to entertain such possibilities. This wasn't her fault. She was under the control of a crazy energy vampire, that was all.

"Here," he said, moving toward Booster. "Let me help you."

* * *

Mira ghosted right into _42,_ coming out in the brig. She looked around cautiously then, when she was sure the coast was clear, she ghosted out of the room and headed down the hall to the cockpit. She carefully ghosted her head through and looked around, searching for the techno organic. She spotted Sari, seated in Buzz Lightyear's chair, running her hands speedily over the control panel. Her hands were moving so fast they were in a blur. Finally she slowed down and the Tangean caught sight of her circuitry before her fingers returned to normal.

Assured that the girl was distracted Mira ghosted the rest of her body into the cockpit and snuck over to the chair. She would incapacitate Sari just like she'd done before, reaching into the girl's brain and knocking her out. _I just hope she doesn't-_

Just then Sari spun the chair around catching Mira by surprise. Their eyes locked and the space ranger stepped back. "I uh.." she stammered.

"Hello Princess Nova," the techno organic girl said in a low voice. She stood, her hands beginning to glow. "Come to stop me, have you?"

"Well you could say that," Mira said, moving back a few more steps. "Of course I'm not exactly stopping you I'm just uh here to make you late.. no that's not it yes I was going to stop you." she buttoned her lip, realizing she was rambling.

Sari smirked, her features hardening. "I know what you were going to do," she stated. "You were going to poke your prying fingers into my brain again." two glowing blue energon blades came out of her arms. "But you're not going to. I won't let you even get the chance!"

She attacked.

Mira didn't even try to fight back. She simply allowed the girl to ghost through her body. Sari landed on the floor, nearly tripping over her own feet. She forced herself to maintain her balance and spun around thrusting her blades at Mira's mid section. The Tangean princess jumped back, landing on top of the control panel.

Sari ran toward her and Mira responded by ghosting into the control panel. "Get out of there!" the girl shouted, pounding her fists on the metal.

Mira came up behind her and grabbed the hem of her dress. With a mighty heave she yanked on it, sending the girl flying backward across the room until she slammed into the door. Before Sari could get up Mira fully ghosted back into the room and ran over her grabbing her arm and shoving it into her back. Sari cried out in pain.

"I'm sorry," the Tangean said, lifting her free hand. "But you brought this on yourself."

When she tried to ghost it into Sari's brain the girl turned her head and bit it down on it. Mira cried out in pain, yanking her hand back. Sari slammed her elbow into the woman's stomach, knocking the wind out of her. She fell hard to the floor. "Ow! That wasn't fair!"

"Neither is this." Sari shot back, punching the woman square in the face. She went flying across the room, crashing into the back of Buzz Lightyear's chair.

Sari stalked over to her, grabbing the semi-conscious woman by the back of the neck before she could recover. The girl easily lifted her off the floor as if she weighed nothing. "You shouldn't have bothered coming after me," she said as she stalked out of the room with her. "Nothing, not even your creepy powers, are going to prevent me from helping my master!"

Mira shook her head the clear the cob webs. "He's not your master!" she shouted. "He's nothing but a evil, psychotic, energy sucking vampire with an ego the size of Trade World!"

"Don't you dare insult my master!" Sari shouted, tightening her grip on the woman's neck. "You don't know what you're talking about!:"

'I know exactly what I'm talking about!" then she wondered why she was even trying to convince the girl. Sari was being controlled by Nos-4-a2. Anything she said to her was bound to go in one ear and out the other.

By then Sari had reached the chutes. She stuffed Mira inside one against her struggling and protests and pressed the button. The Tangean space ranger was shot out of the ship and into space. Once she was out of the ship, she activated her jet pack and watched helplessly as _42_ took off, flying faster than she could move. There was no way the woman would be able to get back inside.

Mira sighed. "Prowl isn't going to be happy about this, nope."

Then she turned and flew back to Star Command.

* * *

"I would like to know whose bright idea it was to leave that girl unattended!" Commander Nebula ranted. He, Prowl, and Mira and Booster were standing outside the med bay on Star Command as the medical LGMs and the human doctor worked hard to save Buzz's life. He glared down at a trine of LGMs that were also waiting in the hallway. "Didn't cross any of your uni-minds that she could wake up and wreck havoc on the ship as well as do something like that-"when he said this he pointed to the closed door"- to somebody?"

"Well..." the LGM's said, looking nervously from one to another. "We honestly didn't think she would wake up since-"

"Since nothing!" Nebula exploded. "Nos-4-a2 might not be here but that doesn't mean his mind control can't reach her!"

"Sorry," the LGMs said in unison, putting their hands behind their backs and looking at the floor.

Commander Nebula was no longer paying attention to them. he looked back toward the door, his face filled with worry. Though Buzz Lightyear had been injured on the job many times it had never been this bad. This time he ran the risk of dying of blood loss or damage to his internal organs. The longer it took to take care of it the worse the news would be. Nebula slammed his fist against the wall, making the others jump. "How did it end up like this?"

Prowl, who was leaning against the wall with his arms folded, was beginning to think the whole thing was his fault. He turned his head. "I'm sorry," he said. "If Sari and I hadn't wound up here-"

"How many times do I have to tell you not to do that?" Commander Nebula demanded glaring over at the Autobot. "True as that might be you can't blame yourself. You weren't the one pulling Sari's strings. She is the one who nearly killed Buzz, not you."

"It wasn't her fault."

"Blasted machine! I know it's not her fault but that doesn't change the fact that she is responsible!" he exploded. "Not everyone here knows that Nos-4-a2 is controlling for her actions and unless we tell them or have her explain things she's going to get the blame."

"How is she going to tell them?"

"She has to be brought back," Nebula replied. "But right now we cannot go after her because she destroyed all our ships except _42_ which she stole." the older human put his hands behind his back and paced.

"Um.. Commander Nebula sir?" Booster said tentatively.

The human looked over at the red alien. "What do you want, private?"

"Permission to speak, sir?"

"Permission granted."

Don't we have anything else we could use to go after them?" he wanted to know.

"Not that any of you are authorized to use."

"We can't just let her get away," Prowl stated.

"Right now she's not the most important problem," Commander Nebula said. "Lightyear is. I don't want to do anything until we find out his status."

Just then the door opened and the human doctor exited the room with the LGM trio. Everyone turned to him expectantly. "Well what's the diagnosis?" Commander Nebula asked.

The human doctor turned to the man and removed his surgical mask. He frowned but something said it wasn't exactly bad news. "We were able to stop the bleeding," the doctor reported. "and there doesn't seem to be any sign of internal bleed." everyone's faces relaxed in relief. "But it's going to be awhile before he can get back on his feet. It will take a few weeks before we can remove the stitches and he needs blood transfusions."

"But he's not going to die?"

The doctor shook his head. "No, he's not."

Commander Nebula's face softened.

"Excuse me, Mr Doctor, sir" Booster spoke up tentatively.

The man turned to the red alien. "Yes?"

"Would it be all right if we visited him?"

The doctor nodded. "It's all right," he said. "But he's kind of out of it right now. We had tp put him on some powerful pain killers. He might not even realize you're there or if he's awake he might forget you visited."

Commander Nebula and Lightyear's rookies headed inside the room. Prowl lingered in the hall, his optics locked on the figure lying on the hospital bed. _This is my fault, _the cyber ninja thought. _If I had tried to stop her instead of letting her get away from me this never would have happened. _

_Poor Prowl. Always blaming yourself._

_It is my fault. _

_You need to stop that. Everything isn't your fault all the time. _

_I know but.._

_But nothing. You keep this up and you'll wind up like Optimus. _

Prowl shook his head, scattering his thoughts.

He listened to the Space rangers conversing. He heard Buzz speaking in a slurred voice, assuring his rookies that before long he'd be up and saving the galaxy once again. Even drugged up on pain killers he couldn't get his mind off his work. Prowl sighed. The man didn't even seem fazed by it. _Or maybe it's a front. He knows his condition is more serious than he's making it seem. He just doesn't want them to worry._

Then he heard Commander Nebula say something about waiting before they went after Sari. Was he implying that they weren't going to do anything about it until Lightyear was better? That could take months! Prowl wasn't going to wait for that! The longer they waited the worst the situation was going to get. _If they're not going to do anything about it now then I will have to take care of it myself._

Prowl turned away from the door and headed down the hall, his face determined and his fists clenched at his sides. "I'm not going to wait and I'm not going to let Sari take the blame for this either," he said. "I'm going to get her back. By myself."

As he was walking he came across XR who was moving in the opposite direction. They met each other halfway. The space ranger robot looked up at him. "Hey, I heard Buzz was taken to the infirmary," he looked worried. "Is that true?"

"Yes," Prowl replied, he pointed down the hall. "He's in room 124."

XR thanked him then moved to continue down the hall. He hesitated and looked back at Prowl. "Where are you going?"

The Autobot did not respond. Instead he continued on his course, heading toward the hanger. Commander Nebula has said that all the space ships like _42_ were disabled but he's almost mentioned another type of ships. Ones that Booster and Mira were not authorized to use. If Prowl could find them he would use one to go after Sari.

XR wasn't about to let him get away that easily. He extended his arms and wrapped them around Prowl's body, hindering his progress. "Now wait just a minute!" he shouted.

The Autobot looked over his shoulder. "Let me go," he growled.

"Not until you tell me where you're going." XR stated, slowly reeling the robot in like a giant fish.

"It's none of your business," Prowl shot back, trying to break free. "This is my problem."

XR was beginning to get wise about that statement. "Oh I see what you're planning." he pulled the Autobot closer against his frantic struggling. The other alien robot was strong, much stronger than he looked, but XR was no weakling either. "You want to go after Sari by yourself."

"How do you know that's what I want to do?"

"Because it's obvous." By then the Autobot was right in front of XR, making them so close it looked like the other robot was hugging him. "You're doing that lone wolf act again. Blaming yourself and feeling that it's all your fault and you must take responsibility for it and then going off to right the wrong like you're Batman or something." XR made a face. "You really need to get over that, buddy, I'm just saying."

Prowl sighed. "Whether it's my fault or not I have to take care of this," he said. "I can't just let Nos-4-a2 keep controlling Sari. If he does something much worse might come to pass than what happened to Buzz."

"So you think chasing after Sari is going to help?" XR asked. "Let me ask you something; Do you even know where she's going?"

"Yes, Planet Z."

"Do you have any idea _where_ that is?"

The Autobot shook his head. "No."

"Then why would you want to follow her all the way there if you have no idea where Planet Z is?" XR demanded. He finally let Prowl go so he could gesture better. "If you go out by yourself you'll get lost or something. You don't know your way around our galaxy. You could wind up anywhere!"

"So then what do you suggest I do?" Prowl demanded.

XR shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "Maybe you should take someone with you."

"Like who?" the Autobot wanted to know. "Yourself?"

The space ranger smirked. "Well I wasn't referring to myself but I can tell you I do know my way around the galaxy." he poked his chest with his thumb. "I also know the quickest way to get there from here."

"You do?"

"Yep."

Prowl frowned. He knew exactly what XR was doing and he might have denied him it but the Autobot didn't really have any choice right now. "Then I'd better bring you along." he turned away. "Just don't get in my way."


	32. Chapter 32

CHAP 32

Shadowstar threw Nos-4-a2 roughly into the holding cell. He landed on the floor, bumping his head against the back wall. He lay there dazed for a moment then turned his head to glare back at the femme as she pulled the cell door shut. "You're going to regret doing this to me," he growled struggling to change position so he would be more comfortable.

She smiled mockingly. "Oooh I'm so scared," she said, leaning against the bars. Her optics dimmed slightly as she watched him. "Save your breath. You're going to need it for what I've got planned for you."

He forced himself so sit up, even though his hands were still secured tightly behind his back. "If you really had any ideas you'd be doing them right now."

"How presumptive of you," she commented, unimpressed by his stating of the obvious. "I don't roll that way, silly robot. I might have some ideas right now but I also tend to make my victims suffer by forcing them to wait until I come up wth something better. That way their psych is broken even before I start." she licked her lips. "Though I don't think it would work for you anyway. It couldn't hurt to try."

His optics met hers, his face clearly expressing his displeasure at her thoughts."I don't intend to be here for that."

Shadowstar cocked her head. "No?" she opened the door and stepped inside, sitting on the cot and looking down at him, her expression never changing. "How do you intend to make that happen?" she questioned. "You going to break those hands cuffs and fly out of here? I wouldn't advice it." she looked at her talons, studying the sharp, pointed ends. "Those little dears I fastened to your delicate wrists were built to prevent robots like you and I from doing much. As you might have noticed they're far more advanced than anything you could find here."

Nos-4-a2 didn't reply but his face told her he had figured that out.

"There's a perfectly good reason for that," the fembot vampire went on. "They're not from here. They came from my own dimension where arresting Cybertronians such as myself is an Autobot's favorite past time." she reached down and grabbed the cuffs, jerking on them. He grunt uncomfortably. "You see the Autobots are a paranoid and controlling race of machines. Anyone who disagrees with their views gets arrested and thrown into the stockade and left there to rot.. or rust in this case since the entire planet population consists of robots." she jerked on the manacles again. "They used these little darlings to incapacitate those they considered trouble makers. It prevents you from putting up much of a fight when they take you away." she laughed bitterly. "Kind of like paralysis."

"Hmmm.."

"I bet you're wondering why I myself have a pair of them on me," she went on, letting him go. "It's simple actually. I was one of the robots they considered a trouble maker and threw me into the stockade to rot." Nos noticed her face tighten up as if she was reliving a past pain. "Like it was my fault I wound up the way I am. I can't help it. It's not my fault I have to feed on other machines just to survive on account of the fact that my stupid creator wasn't smart enough to put a complete spark into my protoform!"

Well this was interesting, not her whining about an incomplete spark or whatever but the other stuff. Autobots? A whole race of just machines? What he would give to be set lose in a place like that. Pity she was the one who wound up with that blessing. From what she'd just told him the fembot hadn't bothered using her little "gift" to her advantage. All she did was try to get rid of it. "What a shame."

She kicked him. "Who asked you?"

He snapped at her foot, causing her to jerk away. "Nobody has to ask me anything, wench, I just felt like saying it anyway." he smiled at her. "You. my dear, obviously don't know how to use that little blessing of your to your advantage."

"Blessing?" she spat. "What are you talking about?"

"This Cybertronian race called Autobots that are living machines," he explained. "You're an energy vampire that was created on a planet full of machines like yourself. That sounds like heaven. You should have used that it your advantage. You could have fed on them to this thing you called a spark's content but instead you chose to run away and let them throw you into a prison." he laughed.

Her face scrunched up in distaste. "If memory serves me, you didn't really do much good attempting the thing you're suggesting anyway," she pointed out.

Stating the obvious didn't faze him. "It's only a minor set back," he stated. "Something I intend to take care of."

"But you're not going to take care of it," she replied standing up, tiring of the entire conversation. She was starting to wonder why she had even told him any of this stuff to begin with. "The only thing you have to look forward to is a quick and painless death.. but that little luxury will be denied to you as well." she ran her talons across the cell's wall, creaking a loud shrieking sound. He recoiled, the high pitched noise hurting his audio units. "How sad for you."

"I doubt it."

The femme said nothing for a moment. She kept on running her hand across the wall. Finally she stopped and looked back at him. Nos-4-a2 was smiling that strange smile again. Something about it bothered her a lot. What was he planning? She was tempted to find out and she clenched her hands into fists resisting the urge to tear at his chest plate with her claws.

It was very tempting....

But she did not do it. Instead she turned away and stepped out of the cell, leaving the other vampire robot to himself.

"Oh but I have plenty of time," he said quietly, once again looking toward the ceiling. He smiled. "For you see, I still have my cards in play."

* * *

"The star hopper is below the hanger," XR explained as he and Prowl made their way toward the lower levels of Star Command. "But it's still only a prototype which means it might not be in perfect working order. It was only used once."

The Autobot looked down at him. "Once?" he inquired.

"Yeah, awhile ago when a certain evil emperor decided to broadcast his evil mind all over the galaxy."

"Huh?"

"Never mind," Xr said, waving him off. He shouldn't have mentioned that since Prowl hadn't even been in the same dimension when the incident happened. "That's a story for another day."

"I see."

Prowl optics fell onto an object below them. "Is that it?" he asked, pointing.

XR followed his faze until it fell on the little two person ship two floors down. "Yeah that's it."

'Then let's get moving," Prowl said, eager to leave. He jumping over the railing and landed easily on the floor.

XR stared down at him awed. "Whoa! and that was over twenty feet and you didn't get get a scratch!" He activated his jet pack and also jumped over the railing, landing easily beside him.

The two robots headed toward the ship. When the reached it XR touched the side and the door opened. Both machines stepped inside as one and the door closed behind the with a soft hiss.

Once inside Prowl stood still for a moment, his optics studying the small interior. "Fascinating."

"Eh it's not that impressive," XR said moving over to the pilot and co-pilot seats. "So are you driving or am I?"

"It doesn't matter," the cyber ninja replied, taking a chair and sitting down in it. "Just as long as we get to Planet Z and save Sari."

"Okay then.." XR said, sounding like a kid in a candy store. "I'm driving." he climbed into the other chair and cracked his knuckles. "Let's get this show on the road." he pressed buttons and the engines fired up. "All righty then. Hold onto your helmet, ninja boy. We're going up!"

* * *

"Why didn't you keep your word?"

Shadowstar stopped in mid-stride and turned around. Nimrod stood a short distance down the hall, looking up at her with a hurt expression on his smooth green face. "What do you mean?" she asked him. The femme had no idea what he was talking about.

"You said you'd get me out of here," the Grub replied, folding his little arms. "But you didn't. You brought me back."

Oh, that again. Why did he have to keep holding it to her anyway? "This isn't the time," she told him. "Can't we discuss this later?"

Nimrod wasn't about to be blown off so easily. "No." he ran around her until he stood in her way, barring her progress. "You promised to get me out of here and it didn't happen."

She sighed and rolled her optics. "Look, I really can't discuss this right now," she said.

"Yes, you _can_," he insisted stubbornly. "At the moment you're not doing anything to either Nos-4-a2, or Zurg, or anyone else. You have free time. Now please..."

Shadowstar sighed. She realized that if she did not address this issue now he would just keep on badgering her about it. "Okay," she said, walking over to him and picking him up. "What is this? What exactly do you want from me?"

"I want you to keep your promise."

"Why are you holding this to me?" she demanded, her voice rising with irritation. "You should have figured out by now that I was just using you. I just wanted you to help me get out of this Pit forsaken place. I never interned to keep my word."

Somehow her confession didn't seem to faze him. He looked like he'd been expecting it. "I am holding it to you because if you really meant that you never would have asked for me to come with you or given me a name." then he thought for a moment and asked. "Why did you bring me with you anyway?"

She sighed. "I honestly don't know anymore," she headed down the hall, feeling a little conflicted. "I had selfish reasons, I guess. I didn't want to be in that ship with the blue skinned flesh bag by myself. I kind of figured if I was alone he wouldn't let up on me."

"He did seem to be hitting on you."

"Yes," she glared at nothing, her mind's eye conjuring up an image of Warp Darkmatter's smirking face. "But then again, I can take care of myself." she shook her head. "I think I did honestly want to help you get away but then..." she paused. "Then I was so caught up in capturing that wannabe I forgot all about it. But.." she looked down at him. "You could have gotten away. You had plenty of chances to escape and start a new life."

"I could have but I was too afraid."

She threw back her head and laughed. "I should have figured that," the cackled. "You Grubs don't seem like the bravest beings in this crazy universe, no offense intended," she added. "I guess I can't blame you for being that way, seeing who your employer is."

She reached the door to Zurg's throne room and set the Grub down. "You know I am not one to keep my promises, especially to disgusting insects such as yourself but," her face softened for a moment. "This time I will. You remind me too much of myself in some areas. I don't want your torment to continue. Once this whole thing is over I'l get you out of here." she rested her hand on the door. "I promise."

* * *

XR set the ship in hyper mode and took off out of the space station so fast he sent Prowl flying out of his chair. The cyber ninja slammed into the back wall and stayed plastured there until the robot ranger slowed down to a more conservative speed. He then slid off the wall and onto the floor.

"Sorry about that," XR said, looking back at him. "I should have warned you about that."

Prowl moaned and slowly got up off the floor. "You didn't have to do that," he complained, his head in his hand as he walked back toward the seat. "It wasn't really necessary."

"Well I figured the quicker we got out of Star Command the more time it would take for them to realize we're gone." XR smiled slightly, his hands grasping the control stick like a teenager in his first car. "I'm sure you don't want them to know. If and when they find out about this Pop's not going to be too happy about it." he frowned, the full meaning of his words sinking in. "You wouldn't be the only person who would be in trouble either."

The Autobot looked at him. "You didn't have to come, you know," he pointed out.

"Oh but I _did_," XR said, looking over at him. He pointed into Prowl's face. "I came along not just to keep you from getting lost but to make sure you don't do anything stupid. Much as I want Nos-4-a2 to get his just deserts I don't think doing what you have in mind is wise."

"What do you know about what I have in mind?" the cyber ninja asked, looking out the windshield.

"More than you think," he replied. "You have this look about you, this tenseness. The others didn't notice it but I did. You want revenge."

"No," Prowl said, refusing to look at him. "Not anymore."

"Huh?"

"I was doing some thinking before Sari got out and did what she did," he explained, lacing his fingers together and resting his chin on them. "I realized my actions were not helping the situation. I was only making it worse for everyone. So I made a vow to myself; I would not kill Nos-4-a2 when I found him. I would not resort to the actions of a Decepticon to make him regret what he did to her." his optics dimmed. "If I did I would be just as bad as he is. I'm not going to let that happen. I haven't been acting like myself lately. I don't want that to progress."

"So going off on your own is how you really act?"

"Of course," Prowl responded, not sounding ashamed. "You already know that."

'So you're just going there to save Sari and nothing else?" XR pressed, unable to believe that Prowl was doing this just for one simple reason. "You're not even going to even take a little revenge?"

"That is not my intent," the Autobot stated. "It never should have been. I want Sari normal. The way she is now..." he let the matter drop. "It's not important. I shouldn't even be telling you any of this."

"Hey, I'll listen to you if you need to vent," XR replied. "I might not agree with everything you say or understand it but I'll listen."

But Prowl didn't want to talk about it. "Forget it," the black and gold robot said, waving it off. "I don't feel like talking about it anyway."

"Fine," XR turned his full attention back to his driving but could help muttering. "Craters, this guy sure is hard to get to open up. Would it really hurt him to..?."

There was a silence. Both robots sat, lost in their own thoughts. eventually Prowl spoke again, his words strung in the form of a question. "By the way; How exactly _did_ Buzz and the others break Nos-4-a2's control on you?"

* * *

"Ah, Shadowstar, how is the prisoner?" Evil Emperor Zurg implored, walking over to the fembot as she entered the throne room. "I take he's comfortable."

"About as much as he can be," she said, shortly. She folded her arms and smirked. "Not that it will last for very long."

"No, of course not," he agreed, smiling and touching his finger tips together. "So what exactly do you have planned for him?"

She did not answer right away. The black and red fembot crossed the room until she reached the wall where Zurg kept his arsenal. She picked up one gun after another, running her slim but sharp talons over each one as if they were made of glass. "Nothing too drastic," she replied, her optics never leaving his red eyes. "Just some things I've learned over the eons." she lifted one of the guns to the light, studying the design as if it was the most interesting thing in the universe. "But don't worry about it, my dear evil emperor, it won't be some weak and girly little thing." her talons gripped the gun brutally and the frame began to clench, screaming in protest. "I don't do that kind of thing." The power cells in the gun popped as her grip tightened.

"Oh well I never thought you would," he commented.

She smiled at him. It was not friendly or warm. "I'm glad." she tossed the gun to the alien and he caught it easily. "I wouldn't want that." she walked past him, her optics resting on his throne and the large tank of distilled evil behind it.

Zurg looked down at the broken gun in his hands. She totally crushed it. "Well you have nothing to worry about," he said, turning away. He threw the gun to the side and pointed into the air. "I have plenty of faith in your capabilities."

She looked back at him and smiled. "Good." then she activated the thrusters in her feet and lifted off the floor, landing near his throne and running her hand over it. "Interesting."

The very sight of her looking at his throne the way she was caused a sick feeling to form in Zurg's chest. Surely she wasn't thinking what he thought she was thinking. "Excuse me," he said. She looked down at him, frowning. "I would be a lot happier if you did not touch my throne. I just had it washed, you know." he added before she asked him why.

She smiled a smile that made him nervous. "Oh, I know." then she moved away, jumping down to the floor. "I was just admiring it, nothing more."

"Well I didn't think you were doing anything else." he stated. "Because if you were.." ...._if you were I would have taken you out right here and right now. _much as he might have seemed like that during their first encounter, he wasn't a push over.

"I get it." she said in a flat voice, her optics flickering with annoyance. She walked over to him and patted his shoulder reassuringly as she walked by. "You have nothing to worry about from me, Zurgy. I don't want your power or your money.. or whatever else you have" her optics fell on two hornets guarding the door and she smiled. "All I want is lunch."

"Lunch?" he asked, confused.

She walked over to the hornets. "Oh yes," she replied. "You know what us vampires eat." she ran her finger seductively over the hornet's triangular face. "This one would do nicely."

"Oh that!" he exclaimed, turning back to her. Now he understood what she meant. The femme needed to feed. "Well then, by all means feed to your hearts content. I wouldn't want you torturing little Nossy on an empty stomach."

"No,' she said grabbing the yellow bot and biting into it's neck. "You wouldn't."

* * *

XR looked at Prowl, confused. "Where did that come from all of a sudden?"

"Well it's obvious something caused you to snap out of Nos-4-a2s mind control," Prowl replied, looking over at the smaller robot. "I mean you said before you were the one who powered him down the first time and if you were still being controlled by him, that never would have happened. So how did you free yourself? What made you go back to normal?"

"Why are you asking me this?"

"Because," the Autobot replied. "I might be able use the information to bring Sari back. To make her break his control and return to normal."

"Oh I see." XR turned away. Now he understood. "Well what helped me was.. the form Commander Nebula filled out to have me built."

'The form?"

XR smiled. "I like to call it my birth certificate," he reached into his chest drawer and pulled out the form, showing it to the black and gold cyber ninja. "See, it has Pops signature on it and everything."

Prowl took the offered document and held it before his face, studying Commander Nebula's loopy signature. "I see." he said. "Hmm..."

The robot space ranger instantly figured out what Prowl was planning. "You're going to try using the same tactic to save Sari, aren't you?" he asked.

"It couldn't hurt," the cyber ninja admitted, handing the document back to XR.

He put it away. "Do you have anything that would do the trick?" the space ranger robot questioned him. "While the idea does seem good, it won't exactly work if you don't have anything that will bring her to her senses, you know."

"I know," Prowl said, placing his hand on a hollow part of his chest plate. "If I did not have anything, I would not have even asked."

XR eyed him curiously. "Not to sound nosy or anything but what do have exactly?"

Prowl's hand ran absently over the hollow spot. "Nothing too important," he said evasively. "Just something that once belonged to her...."


	33. Chapter 33

CHAP 33

_An hour later_

Shadowstar returned to the dungeon, full up on robot energy, to find Nos-4-a2 had somehow gotten his cuffed hands in front of him. He sat on the floor the manacles held up to his face, gnawing unprogressively on the metal.

She paused, watching hi for the briefest of moments, frowning. "What are you doing?" she demanded.

The other energy vampire, startled, by her voice, lifted his head and stared at her, his teeth still clenched around the stubborn stasis cuffs. She forced her face to stay in its position. At that moment he looked like a kid caught doing something he shouldn't and she had the almost irresistible urge to burst out laughing. Instead she remained stone faced, frowning disapprovingly down at the other vampire.

If she had allowed herself some merriment at the somewhat adorable expression he held she might have changed her mind about it. She had no intention of doing so, no matter how cute he looked.

It took a moment for Nos-4-a2 to recover. "What does it look like I'm doing?" he demanded, glaring up at her. "I'm trying to get these bloody cuffs off me!"

'Yes, I can see that." Now she did smiled. But it was out of pity. "I wouldn't advice trying that again," she stated, opening the cell and stepping inside. "They're kind of durable. If they could be broken that easily I never would have ended up in the stockade in the first place."

She grabbed his arm and pulled him up. "Well now it's too late," she said, yanking on his arm and hoisting him out of the cell even as he tried to keep her from doing so by activating his wings and flapping them backward. "It's time to pay the piper." she looked back at him, amused by his feeble attempts to stay in the cell. "Looks like that help you mentioned didn't arrive in time."

He stubbornly kept up his hope that it would even though the situation was rapidly turning against it. "There is still a chance, wench."

She smiled tolerantly at him, feeling almost sorry for his blind faith. "I'm sure there is." then she yanked hard on him, pulling the other vampire out of the cell and into the hallway. He let out a startled yelp and his wings flickered and powered down. "Now come along. Your chariot awaits."

Against Nos-4-a2's protests and attempts to free himself, the femme managed to drag the struggling vampire down the hall and to the intended room. As they moved, ideas formed in her head, new ones cancelling out the old ones. If she was going to do this she would do it right. _I don't want to be disappointed, _she thought. _He'd better not disappoint me._

Finally they reached the room and the femme drug him inside and over to a table resting in the middle of the room When she was close enough it she thrust him onto it and uncuffed Nos hands.

The moment the stasis cuffs fell off his slender wrists he reacted, roaring and reactivating his wings, taking her completely by surprise. He shoved her away from him, sending her back into the wall. She hit it hard and fell to her knees on the floor. When she lifted her head she saw Nos floating in the air above her. He was smiling. "I am sorry, my dear," he said to her. "But I am afraid you won't be having any fun today."

She bared her fangs. "That's what you think!"

Nos-4-a2 laughed, bringing his hands up which had begun to glow. "Let's see how you like it."

Shadowstar quickly jumped to her feet, dodging sideways when Nos shot a bolt of plasma energy at her. He followed her movements, firing dark green plasma after her as she dodged out of the way.

She moved around him, her had falling on a long chain hanging from a nail on the wall. Why anybody would stick a chain there was beyond her but it would work t her benefit. Chains always did. . She thrust her arm forward, throwing the end of the chain at him. He couldn't dodge it in time and the last few feet wrapped tightly around him, pinning his arms to his sides. He roared in anger and tried to free himself.

But it was pointless. She had him now. The tables had turned back into her favor. _Good._

"So much for your escape, Nossy," she taunted.

The fembot yanked hard on the chain, pulling him down toward her before he had a chance to retort. He crashed onto the floor at her feet. She pounced on him instantly, wrapping the rest of the chain security around his struggling body. When she was finished she stood back and and looked down at him, her mouth turned up in a satisfied smile. "Don't feel too bad," she said, grabbing the end of the chain and pulling him across the floor.

She headed toward the table then grabbed the twined links and hoisted him off the floor then threw him back onto it. He grunted when his back impacted the hard metal. She smiled and he roared in her face.

That only served to heighten her irritation. She climbed onto the table and punched him square in the face, so hard it nearly knocked him offline. For a moment he lay there, dazed, which gave her a chance to do what she wanted before he recovered. She grabbed at the chains holding him still he regained his sense enough to roar in her face again.

"Oh, stop that," she ordered, leaning her elbow against his stomach plating to keep him still while she worked meticulously on the chains. "You're only making things worse for yourself."

"Like I'm going to just hold still and let you do whatever you're planning to me?" he growled. He manged to free one of his arms and grasped her wrist with the liberated hand. The energy vampire brought his face close to her own, his optics burning with hatred. "No, I think not."

The femme wasn't intimated nor did she feel all that threatened. "I am afraid you don't have a choice." she grasped his free arm and slammed it brutally against the table. Something built into it closed securely around his wrist the moment it touched it. He stared at the binding with wide optics, realizing what it meant. He was in one of _those_ rooms!

Shadowstar meanwhile freed his other arm from the cocoon of chains and repeated the process even though he started struggling and she had a hard time holding him still.

Once he was secure, she reached over and undid the clasp on his cape. "You won't be needing that," she muttered to herself. "It will only get in the way of what I want to do."

He stared at her, a strange horror building in his system. 'What are you going to do?"

She then pulled it away and threw the cape to the floor then looked up at him, smiling strangely. "Whatever I want."

Shadowstar then reached for his chest plating. He watched her do it unable to prevent whatever was going to happen next.

Suddenly she paused as if reconsidering what she was about to do. She put her hand to her cheek and studied him for a moment, frowning. Finally she turned away, heading toward sliding off the table and moving to another corner of the room. Nos-4-a2 didn't bother wondering what she was doing. He focused his attention on freeing himself before she came back and did who knows what to him.

He turned his focus back to the metal binding him to the table and yanked on it. Hard. Nothing. It didn't even give.

"Craters," he cursed, grinding his teeth together. "Bloody steel!"

A moment later Shadowstar returned, her hands full of what looked like.. nails? "Your creator doesn't have the kind of stuff I usually use for things like this," she said, setting the items down on the floor. "Most of what I've seen looks childish, even the laser he uses to torture the prisoners for fun. No offense to him, but he doesn't seem to know how to use these things right."

What did she know about it? "You'd be surprised."

She looked back at him. "I'm sure I would be." she headed back to him, holding one nail and what looked like a hammer. "But I don't really care all that much. This will do for now. If I don't get the proper responce I'll try something different."

He hissed at her, his entire countenance radiating his displeasure of the whole thing. He closed his hands into fists, wishing he could use them to break out her optics. She ignored him and turned her attention to his right hand. She stared at it for the longest time, her hands touching it gently as if it was something delicate. She slowly pried the fingers open. After a few seconds she turned the hand over and ran her fingers gently over the knuckles of all four of his fingers.

Then.... she slammed them all with the hammer, so hard she put a huge dent in his hand. He cried out in pain and tried to yank his hand away. Sadly he could not do that because it was still fastened to the wall. He was stick having to endure the agony of having his knuckles smashed into uselessness.

But Shadowstar wasn't done yet.

The fembot turned her attention to his face, more appropriated the monocle covering his left optic. While the pain in his hand was still fresh she reached down and touched the eyeglass. At her touch he froze. This made her smile.

Very gently she ran her sharp, nailed talons over the delicate instrament. _I wonder why he was given this thing? _she asked herself. _Is it useful for something or just for show?_

"Well no matter," she said out loud. "It's useless now."

She shoved her talons into it. A long spidery crack snaked up the entire monocle. Nos-4-a2 sucked in a breath, forcing himself not to cry out in pain. he would not give her the satisfaction this time. She'd merely taken him by surprise before. Now he was ready. Hopefully she wouldn't do anything worse than crack it.

But she wasn't finished with the item yet. She pulled her fingers out and clenched her hand into a fist. This time she did not use the hammer. She slammed her fist into the instrument, shattering it into a million pieces.

Even though he'd braced himself for this it did little. Nos-4-a2's cry of was even worse than when she'd hit his hand. This made her realize something about the thing she'd just destroyed. It _had _been important. She smiled. Good. Now to find more important things.

She once more reached for his chest plate.

* * *

"What are you planning on using to save Sari?" XR asked again. He faced Prowl, his expression curious.

The Autobot did not meet his gaze. He kept his optics focused on the black void of space, hoping the robot would take the hint.

But he did not. "Come on, you can tell me," he pressed. "What are you going to use?"

"Nothing," Prowl replied, evasively. "Well it's nothing to you anyway but it's very important where I'm from."

"Well then let's have a look then," XR persisted. "It's not going to hurt you, unless." he smiled mischievously. "unless it's something embarrassing."

"No it's _not_ something embarrassing," the cyber ninja exclaimed, his hand still resting over the hollow spot on his chest. "It's just-"

"It's just hidden in an embarrassing place." The space ranger robot got out of the chair and leaned toward Prowl, his hands reaching out as if he was going to touch his chest. "Come on, Prowly. Let's see it already. Is it a picture of her in her underwear?"

"No!" the Autobot backed as far away from XR as he could. "and what is with your obsession with the under garments of organics anyway?"

XR seemed a little disappointed that it wasn't Sari in her panties but that didn't stop him from prying. "Okay, so it's not her in her underwear," he said. "What about _you_?"

"Me?" Prowl stared at him. "You are aware that I'm already what people call naked."

"That's not what I meant." XR was leaning so close to him he was nearly falling out of his chair. "I mean is it an embarrassing picture of you with your inner workings showing?"

The Autobot was mortified. "Absolutely not!"

"Then what is it?"

Prowl sighed, knowing it was a lost cause. XR wasn't going to stop bothering him about it until he showed him what he had. "All right," he consented. He took out the item and held it to XR. "This is is."

The robot stared at it a moment then turned back to Prowl. He was unimpressed. "A _key_?" he asked. "You're going to show her a key?"

"It's a very important key," the Autobot informed him, putting the key back into his chest plate. "It belongs to Sari."

"Then why do you have it?"

"That is not important now," Prowl said, not wanting to explain himself. "What is important is if I can get to key to her she should be able to break his hold on her easily." a small smiled crossed his features. "After all; That key saved me and my comrades many times."

"How can a key save anyone?" XR asked. "I mean it's just a key. Did she use it to unlock the door of your house when you locked yourself out or something?" he turned back to the controls. "It doesn't seem all that impressive to me."

"Of course not. You weren't there to see it."

"Then why don't you enlighten me?" he prompted. "How about you explain to me all the key's magical qualities?"

"It doesn't matter now anyway."

"Why not?"

"The key no longer works, it's dead."

"Then why do you want to show it to her?"

"Recognition. I am hoping she will see it and remember what she used to be."

"Oh.. so you're not trying to like use its magical force to resort her or anything?"

"No, why would you think such a thing."

XR shrugged. "I don't know," he said, looking away. "It just sounded logical."

* * *

Nos-4-a2 lay on the table, barely conscious. His entire frame was covered in scratches and dents, the pain from the fembots torture session barely dwindling. He couldn't even remember exactly when the real agony began. After she'd broken his monocle everything else seemed like a blur. The only thing imprinted in his mind was the pain. He didn't even know how long it had lasted but when she'd finally stopped it felt like hours. Many many long, agonizing hours of ceaseless pain..

When Shadowstar finally slid off the table she left him with a linger dread. She wasn't finished, oh no, she was barely getting started. This was just the first course.

_I shudder to think what else she has planned in that twisted CPU of hers. _

His one good optic flickered slightly. He was hearing voices. He listened carefully, recognizing both of the speakers. Shadowstar, that blasted harpy, and Zurg. They were talking, though he couldn't understand the words.

"You have nothing to worry about, Zurg," Shadowstar said to the evil emperor. "I'm doing a very good job. It's too bad you don't have the time to see it for yourself. I did you a favor and recorded the session in case you wish to watch it." she smiled, a wicked smile and held up a disc. "Your son is a rather interesting toy. It's too bad he doesn't have a spark in him, otherwise I could have done more..."

"I'm sure you would," he said, sounding a little irritated. "and I'm sure you plan on having more fun but I am afraid that will have to wait for another time."

Her optics flickered slightly, the smile fading rapidly from her features. "Why is that?' she questioned.

"Oh nothing much," he said, smiling at her in a strange way. "I was just wondering if.. YOU COULD COME BACK TO MY THRONE ROOM AND CLEAN UP THE MESS YOU MADE!"

She cocked her head to the side, putting on a phony look of confusion. "Mess?" she implored innocently. "Whatever do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean."

The camera panned over to the pile of deactivated hornets blocking one of the doors. 'That mess!" he reported angrily. "I don't mind you feeding on my robots, as long as you have no intention of doing anything else with them, but I do mind when energy vampires make messes and don't clean up after themselves." the camera refocused on him and he pointed at the lens almost as if he was trying to poke her face. "Now get up here and clean this up!"

Shadowstar frowned, not the least bit happy that he intended to end the session because of a minor mess. Why couldn't he have his Grubs or whatever clean it up? Wasn't that what they were there for? She was tempted to point that out to him but changed her mind. It wouldn't do her any good to get on his nerves. He was a bit childish but not incompetent.

"Fine," she consented. "I'll be right up after I take your son back to his cell."

"Be sure that you do."

The image blinked out.

Shadowstar sighed then returned to Nos-4-a2. She stood over him a minute, studying the robots now mangled body. To her, he looked much better that way. She reached over and ran her hand over his chest plate, feeling him shudder slightly at her touch.

She smiled, knowing why. In the future that certain area would become very personal to him, the slightest gesture toward that location would send him into a fit. _Violating one in the sensative places will do that to a machine. _

Then she moved around the table and released his wrists from the metal clamps, her optics briefly running over every single dent and scratch in the silver colored metal. She'd actually been very generous with him. Other robots would have looked far less recognizable by now.

As she worked she noticed he watched her but didn't do much else. He was spent. That was a shame. Maybe a break was a good idea after all.

Once she was finished releasing him she lifted his limb body off the table and tucked it against herself. On the way out she grabbed his cape up off the floor and took it with him. He didn't put up a fight. Of course not. She'd taken the liberty of draining quite a bit over his energy. Not because she was hungry, but because it was painful and oh how she loved to hear his roars of pain.

It had been fun. _But not nearly as fun as tormenting Prowl. _she thought wistfully. How she wished that Autobot had been on the table sintead of Nos-4-a2.

By then she'd reached the dungeon. She carried him inside and opened his cell door. Then she unceremoniously dropped him onto the cot where he lay, a limp and battered machine. Even in that state she could still see a burning hatred lighting up his good optic.

"You just continue feeling that way," she said, looking down at him with a smirk. "I like when my playthings look at me that way." she touched his chest plate again, making him flinch. She leaned down until their faces were only inches from each other. "I am looking forward to having more fun with you but do me a favor this time." she grabbed his face and licked it sensually. "Try putting up more of a fight this time."

His response was a low, guttural growl.

She smiled at released him, straightening up. She turned away and headed out of the cell but paused long enough toss his cape carelessly over his body. "I wouldn't want you to get cold," she cackled, walking out of the room.

The door slammed shut behind her, leaving Nos to himself. He sighed in relief and allowed himself so slip into stand by.

* * *

_Thirty Minutes later._

Sari did not land _42_ on the planet. Instead she left it in the atmosphere, activating the cloaking mechanism then reactivating her battle armor and exiting the ship through the shoots. She made her way down to the planet's surface, destroying anything that could give away her presence in the process.

Finally she touched down gently on the surface, powering down the jet pack she'd stolen from one of the extra suits stored in 42's lockers. She paused for a moment and looked around herself, her glowing red eyes falling to rest on Evil Emperor Zurg's spiraling castle. _Yes._

Her master's distress signal was coming from there and it was growing more urgent as the time passed. "Master.... he is in trouble."

Reactivating the jet pack, she rose into the air and moved across the sky. Her destination: the black, spiraling palace in the distance.

* * *

"I just want to make one thing perfectly clear," XR said as the small ship drew nearer to planet Z. "I am the one calling the shots once we land. I don't want you running off and doing something stupid in the name of being heroic, understood?"

Prowl shrugged carelessly. 'Whatever."

"Not whatever!" the other robot shouted, making him jump. "You either agree to it or I turn this ship around and we wait until Buzz Lightyear has his stitches removed before we rescue her or do anything else."

The Autobot had no intention of waiting that long. He nodded, though he wasn't happy about it. XR sounded like a strict parent. "Fine," he agreed grudgingly. "We'll do it your way."

"Good," XR smiled and gripped the control stick. "Just remember; I'm only doing this for your own good."

"Yeah," Prowl muttered, looking back out at the steadily growing planet. "For my own good.."


	34. Chapter 34

CHAP 34

Sari touched down on the landing pad outside Zurg's palace. She stood still for a moment, studying the exterior of the castle. It was a large, black, intimidating building back lit by glowing red clouds. If she had been herself it might have discouraged her but, since she was being controlled by Nos-4-a2, the sight did nothing to hinder her desire to save her master. In fact; it only helped increase that want. "Don't worry, Master," she said, removing the jet pack and setting it on the pavement before walking toward the palace. "I'm coming to save you."

As she drew near the techno organic girl noticed the twin pair of hornets guarding the front entrance. They were tall black and yellow machines holding what looked like lances, their heads moved back and forth searching, searching. She paused and ducked behind a large statue of Zurg. She cautiously peeked around the statue at the robots. They were looking back and forth but didn't seem to be aware that she was nearby.

Good. That meant they wouldn't know what hit them.

She smiled an evil smile and opened her hands to create two energy orbs. Time to kick some robot butt.

Grasping orbs in both hands she jumped out from the statue and charged at the hornets. Alerted by her footsteps they looked at her. But it was too late for a reaction. She threw the orbs at them. The flying projectiles crashed into the robots, overloading their power cores and causing them to explode.

Sari then turned and ducked back behind the statue as a group of hornets, attracted by the sound, opened the door and stormed out. They stood still for a moment then moved to the right. She smiled. "Such dumb machines," she commented.

Sari quickly moved out of her hiding place and dashed toward the still open door. It closed behind her once she was inside the palace. "Now," she murmured, looking back and forth. "All I need to do is find Master without attracting any attention."

She heard footsteps coming toward her and quickly ducked behind one of the pillars. A few seconds later a purple robed being moved regally down the hall, followed by a blue skinned alien in a red and purple space suit. They were walking rather close together and seemed to be in the middle of an intense conversation.

"I am beginning to have reservations about that female vampire you brought back with you," the purple thing said to the blue alien.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean," he shouted, suddenly losing his temper. "She's crazy! You know what she did to Nos-4-a2 during his torture session?"

The alien frowned, making it clear he did not want to get into that. He chose to humor the other being anyway. "What did she do?"

"She-" he suddenly stopped as if thinking twice about what he was going to say. "Oh never mind what she did. It wasn't very pleasant."

"I thought you _wanted_ her to torture him. You know for revenge purposes and such."

"Not the way she's doing it!"

The blue alien cocked his head. "And how is she doing it?"

"Forget how she's doing it!" the purple one roared, clenching his fists at his sides. "It just shouldn't be done that way."

"Well you didn't have to let her do that to him, you know," his comrade pointed out as they walked past the spot where Sari was hiding. "You could have refused her offer."

"I only agreed to it because she said she had experience!" he made a face and touched his finger tips together. 'That little bimbo has experience all right, a little too much if you ask me." He slapped his palm against his face. "Too much experience in all the wrong areas. Once this is over, I want you to do something about her before she decides to make somebody else her toy...."

Their voices faded as they walked further down the hall. Sari waited until she could no longer hear either being before coming out of her hiding place and rushing down the hallway in the opposite direction the aliens had gone.

As she moved further into the palace the pull of her Master grew stronger and the urgent feeling in her chest grew greater. Nos-4-a2 was in trouble all right and needed her help. "Don't worry, Master," she said. "I won't fail you. I'll get you out of here, I promise."

She found a lift and took it to a lower level. Something told her he was being held far below the general area. _Dungeons. A castle is never a castle without dungeons. _

When the door opened she found herself surrounded by a legion of hornets. They all turned to her, aiming their guns. She moved fast, activating her blades and moving like lightning, dodging the plasma and slicing up the robots as she passed. When she reached the end all that was left of the hornets were smoking remains.

Turning her face away from the carnage she'd created she moved down the hall, taking out security cameras and whatever else she came across. Ten minutes later she reached the dungeons. Deactivating her blades she stepped inside and walked down the passage, her head turning to look inside each cell as she passed. Finally, as she neared the end, she found him.

Sari stopped in her tracks and stared at the figure lying on the cot, her eyes wide in horror. "Master!' she screamed, grabbing door and trying to yank it open.

It metal door did not budge so she shoved one of her blades inside and broke the lock.

She then threw the door open and dashed inside the cell, leaning over the heavily damage robot. "Master!" she explained, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him. "Wake up! Please wake up! I came to save you! Don't die on me!"

He did not respond. "Wake up!" she yelled, slapping him across the face.

Nos-4-a2 moaned and she saw his good optic flicker. It lit up to full brilliance and locked onto her own red gaze. "Don't.. strike your.. Master.." he managed to say.

"Master!" she exclaimed, pulling him into a hug. "I'm so glad you're alive!"

He weakly raised his arms and tried to pull her away from him. Being happy that he was alive was okay but he drew the line at physical contact. Unfortunately hands didn't want to listen to him and fell back onto the cot, thus preventing him from making that fact clear to her.

Sari pulled him back, her eyes taking in the full extend of the damage. "What have they done to you?"

"Sh-Shadowstar," he forced out before his head rolled back and he nearly blacked out again.

"Master!" the girl screamed, forcing him to focus. "Look at me!"

He did so, though he looked like he was having a hard time with it. She frowned, ritous anger written on her dark face. "Whoever did this to you is going to pay," she growled. "I'll _make_ them pay."

She began to get up but he grabbed her arm preventing her from moving. She looked back at him. "Do not go against her, you little fool," he forced himself to growl. "I shall...take care of... her myself.."

Sari nodded, her mind going into full compliance to his order. She sat back down. "Well if I cannot teach her a lesson for daring to do such a thing to you, at least allow me to do something else." She pushed the hair that had fallen out of her pig tails away from her neck, exposing it. "At least let me give you some sustenance."

Nos-4-a2 eyed her neck longingly. It had been quite awhile since he'd fed on anything and most of the energy he had had been drained by Shadowstar as part of her sick form of fun. There was also the fact that the girl's power always made him act funny but right now he didn't care all that much. He would rather be drunk than dead.

The energy vampire weakly lifted his hand and grasped her shoulder. She moved toward him, putting her neck close enough to his mouth so he could latch onto it. He did so willingly and bit down into her soft, dark flesh.

Sari didn't even move or scream as he greedily sucked out her energy, his damage systems processing it. Unlike Shadowstar, he could not repair himself automatically by consuming energy but that didn't matter much. If he could get enough energy without losing it, he could repair himself.

Finally he stopped, removing his fangs from her neck and allowing himself to fall back onto the cot. Sari, drained but still conscious watched him, her hand covering the bleeding marks. She didn't comment, only watched him. Finally he sat back up, a small smile on his face. She smiled back. "Feeling better, master?"

"Smashingly," he replied. "Now I can begin my repairs."

Before he could though Sari stopped him. "Allow me," she said.

* * *

XR landed the ship twenty minutes after Sari had entered the palace and created a tornado of destruction as she made her way to her master. The robot space ranger touched down in an area of the planet where it would not be seen from the palace or tip anyone on the planet off that they were there. As a precaution he activated the cloak.

After he powered the ship down, but kept the cloaking mechanism online, he turned to Prowl. "Ready to get moving?"

The Autobot didn't even have to be asked. He stood. "Let's just get moving."

XR watched him head toward the door and jump out when it opened. He folded his arms in annoyance. "Well that's gratitude for you," he grumbled. "Not even a thank you from the sour faced mecha."

Prowl looked back into the ship. "Well?"

"I'm coming!" XR quickly wheeled after him.

Once he was out of the ship he looked up at the cyber ninja who had his attention focused on the palace in the distance. He seemed to be studying it, sizing the place up. XR waited. Finally Prowl tore his optics away from the castle and looked down at him. "They're here."

"Well of course they're here, if they weren't here I never would have come here and it was actually kind of obvious since Warp Darkmatter works for Zurg so-" Prowl started to walk away before the robot started rambling. "Hey! Don't walk away from me like that!" he shouted, wheeling after him. "How would you like it if I walked away from you in the middle of speaking!?"

"We don't have time to stand around talking," Prowl responded, not looking back at him. "There are more important things we should be doing right now."

_Don't worry, Sari. I'm coming._

* * *

.Nos-4-a2 watched as Sari worked meticulously on the damage he'd sustained from Shadowstar's torture session. She started with his broken fingers, carefully opening up his arm so she could work on the damaged circuits inside the hand. She said not a word as she did this, only closing her eyes a few times as if doing so helped her become more familiar with the way it worked. After a few minutes had past, she was finished with the hand and reached out at if to touch his chest plate.

He flinched when she did this and grabbed her wrist. "No," he hissed.

She stopped, her face growing confused. "What is wrong, Master?" the girl questioned.

A brief image flashed into his mind. A horrible image of an invading power. "I don't want you touching me there."

"But you have damage in there," she persisted. "If you don't get it repaired-"

"I will do it myself," he cut her off.

Sari did not push the issue. She merely nodded compliantly and turned her attention on his broken monocle. "I think I know where I can find something to repair that."

"Huh?"

Sari stood up. "Can you get up, Master?" she asked.

When he tried he found he could not. _It seems my wings are not in perfect working order. _The only served to further irritate him. _Stupid harpy!_

"What's wrong Master?" Sari asked, cocking her head and eying him worriedly.

"Well..."

"That's okay," Sari replied when he told her. "I'll carry you."

"Carry me?!" he looked horrified at the idea. "I don't need to be carried like an infant!"

Sari had other ideas. Against the energy vampires protests she lifted him easily off the cot as if he weighed nothing. Then as he was yelling at her to put him down, she carried him out of the dungeon and down the hall to the labs. "I am sorry, Master," she said to him. "But it's for your own good."

He continued to resist. "Whose the Master here anyway?" he shouted, resting his hands on her chest and shoving her away. "Me or you?! I command you to obey my order and put me down!"

She tightened her grip on his body. "If I do that you will fall onto the floor and get hurt," she replied matter-of-factly. "Do you want to get hurt?"

Of course he didn't but he didn't want to be carried around like some kind of invalid either.

"Don't worry, Master," she said, smiling. "Once you're fully repaired you won't need to worry about it anymore."

"Fine," he consented. "But could you at least bring my cape? I feel positively naked without it."

She smiled and headed back into the cell to retrieve the article.

* * *

Prowl and XR arrived at the palace entrance without incident. To Prowl it felt a little too easy, as if this Zurg being was letting them get this close. "Okay," XR said. "Here's what we're going to do. Since it would be an unwise choice to go in the front door we'll have to find a alternate way in and I know just the place." he started to wheel away. "Follow me, comrade."

The Autobot followed, his senses on full alert in case they ran into trouble. This was the planet of an evil emperor after all so they couldn't afford to get careless. But then there was the fact that XR didn't seem to be tense at all about it, as if this was all routine for him. Wasn't he worried about them getting caught?

"You seem relaxed," Prowl commented, as they made their way around to the back of the palace. "Why is that?"

"Why shouldn't I be?"

"Well we are about to sneak inside the palace of an evil emperor," the cyber ninja pointed out. "I mean it just seems strange that you're not more on edge."

"Oh, I'm on edge," XR replied, looking over his shoulder at him. "But I try not to show it that much. I know at any moment we could run into trouble and Zurg is the biggest problem in the galaxy."

"Then why aren't you worried about getting caught or seen?"

He shrugged. "I guess I'm just used to it."

He was used to it? "You're strange."

"I'm not strange," he said. "I am just familiar with Zurg's routine. That's why I know that there's an unguarded entrance at the back of the palace. Zurg doesn't really change his habits much though by now he should have learned how to. I mean Buzz and the rest of us have infiltrated his palace enough times that he should be wise to the way we work." he smiled. "But if I know him, he's forgotten about it again."

And at that very moment the two robots walked into a gathering of hornets. They all turned to face the two, raising their arms. Prowl looked down at him, raising an eye ridge. '"Predictable?"

"Eh so maybe I was wrong." he said, looking sheepish. "Don't worry I got a plan."

Before Prowl could ask him what that was the smaller robot rolled toward the hornets and activated every gun in his arsenal. "All right, you poor excuses for robots, back off or I will blow you all to living slag!"

The hornets, in response to his threat, fired their weapons, knocking away every gun. They fell to the pavement, just out of reach. The Autobot frowned. "Got a plan B?"

XR turned to him, looking guilty. "Funny you should mention that." He grabbed Prowl's arm. "RUN!" he wheeled away, dragging the Autobot with him.

The hornets gave chase, shooting off green bolts of plasma energy.

* * *

"Are you telling me you want me to take her out for you?" Warp Darkmatter asked, looking at Zurg with a horror stricken face.

"Not take her out exactly," Zurg replied, resting his fingertips together. "Just do something drastic and make it look like an accident."

"Where did this come from all of a sudden?" the blue alien pressed. "You seemed fine with her before."

"As I said I never really intended for her to leave the planet," the evil emperor replied, putting his hands behind his back and pacing. "I can't chance her being incarcerated. She has seen too much and I don't want her blabbing to star command about my many secrets."

"Like your love for breaded shrimp?"

Zurg stared at him with wide eyes. "How do you know about that?!" he demanded.

"Zurg, _everybody_ knows about that," Warp replied, smirking.

"Well anyway," he went on. "I still can't chance it. Lately she's been acting suspiciously."  
"Besides what you said about her "intimate" torture session with Nos-4-a2?" Warp questioned.

"Yes, besides!" Zurg frowned as the horrible images from the recorded disc flashed through his mind. He shuddered. "Ew.. let us not mention that again."

"Fine but you brought it up. So how do you intend me to dispose of her and make it look like an accident?"

"I don't know," Zurg said. "But you'll think of something."

"Mind if I ask why you want this all of a sudden?"

Zurg did not reply, but only because he was remembering the look on Shadowstar's face when she was touching his throne. The memory only served to make his desire to have her removed greater. _Nobody, but nobody, is going to take my power away from me again!_

* * *

Sari was moving so fast that when she entered one of the labs she tripped over her own feet and nearly lost her grip on Nos-4-a2. He, not wanting to go flying across the room, grabbed onto her, his fingers digging tightly into her shoulders. "Watch what you're doing!" he ordered.

"I'm sorry, Master," the girl said after regaining her balance. "I didn't mean to nearly drop you."

"Just take your time," he ordered, through clenched teeth.

"Yes, Master."

She carried him over to a table and set him down on it.

He tensed, the memory of what had happened in a room like this surging back into his mind. Sari saw his expression change and noticed he clenched his hands into tight fists that began to shake. "Master?"

"I don't like it in here," he said in a trembling voice. "Take me out."

"But I haven't even repaired you-"

"I don't care!" he shouted. The energy vampire pointed into her face. "Take me out right now!"

The girl looked at him in confusion but did what he said. She lifted him off the table and carried him back into the hall. Once she was there she set him down on the floor and headed back inside. "Where are you going?" he demanded.

"If you won't let me repair you in there," she replied, looking down at him. "Then I'll get what I need and repair you out here."

* * *

"Why are we running?" Prowl demanded.

"Because we're moving very fast," XR answered. "and if we don't run those hornets will turn us into spare parts!"

"Nobody is going to turn me into spare parts." Prowl dug his heels into the pavement, forcing the smaller robot to stop. "We shouldn't be running," he stated. "We should be dealing with those hornets. Fleeing won't get us any closer to saving Sari or taking care of those energy vampires."

"No, but it will keep us functioning."

Prowl roughly yanked his arm free of XR's grip. "I won't run away this time," he said a determined look on his face.

"What are you-"

Prowl was no longer paying attention. He pulled out two throwing stars and rushed the hornets. XR watched him for a moment then, realizing he couldn't let Prowl fight them on his own, grudgingly moved to help. It did not take them long to scrap every single hornet. The space rangers never had a hard time scrapping them anyway. When the last one crumbled to the pavement in a jumble of spare parts Prowl turned to XR. "Let's go. The way should be open now."

XR followed him, feeling nervous. Not about getting inside but about the Autobot in general. While Prowl was fighting those hornets he seemed to have changed somehow. His fighting style seemed a little... cruel.

* * *

"Clean up your mess, he says. Do what you're told he says," Shadowdtar grumbled as she cleared out the mess of deactivated hornets which she'd left lying in Zurg's throne room. "Who does he think he's talking to here? I'm not one of his subordinates! He should-"

Suddenly Shadowstar stiffened. She sensed a certain very familiar energy signature moving around close by. "Prowl," she stated as an evil smile slowly lit up her dark face. "It seems my favorite plaything decided to show himself after all."

The femme transformed into vehicle mode and, with a roar of her thrusters, shot out of the room, leaving the robot parts lying in a heap on the floor, totally forgotten. She had something more important to take care of right now. _I'm sure he'll give me more entertainment than that wannabe did. _


	35. Chapter 35

CHAP 35

XR was right. The secret entrance was right where he said it was and it wasn't guarded. Not one single hornet stood on either side of the door. Prowl wondered how this Zurg could maintain his place as the biggest threat to the galaxy if he didn't even take the precautions to prevent infiltration. _Megatron would never allow something like this if it was him they had to deal with instead, _the Autobot thought, remembering the current threat to his own dimension. Megatron. The most feared Cybertronian in the galaxy. Ruthless to the core. _If it was him he'd have at least two Decepticons guarding it. _

"Prowl?" XR's voice brought him out of his thoughts. He looked down at the smaller robot. "Hmm?"

"Are you going to stand there all day or are we going to save Sari?" he asked, folding his arms and giving him an impatient look.

"Oh.. sorry," Prowl said, shaking his head. For a moment he'd forgotten where he was. "Let's go."

Both machines entered the palace as one.

Once inside they paused. "We usually go this way," XR said, pointing to their left. "He never seems to have as much security in that part of the palace and-" he looked back toward Prowl. The Autobot was gone. -and now I have to go looking for you."

He wheeled in the opposite direction of which he'd intended, grumbling to himself. Why did the Autobot have to go and ruin a meticulously thought out plan. "I thought we agreed that we wouldn't split up," he complained folding his arms and making a face. "I guess I shouldn't have expected him to follow orders. That would be too hard for somebody like him, stupid glitch head."

* * *

Prowl made his way carefully down the halls of Zurg's palace, his senses on alert and his hand hovering over his weapons. Whenever he saw a hornet or anything else that might prove to be hindrance he would press himself against the wall and create a hologram to hide himself. After the being passed by he moved away from the wall and continued down the hall. So far things were going smoothly and he didn't seem to be having any trouble.

It was all too easy.

_You know you really shouldn't have just left XR like that. _A voice in his head pointed out.

Here it was again. The voice of logic and reason. Why did it always sound like master Yoketron?

_I know but what else could I do? _he argued. _This is my problem and I don't want him getting involved._

_He's been involved since Nos-4-a2 took off with Sari and he did nothing about it, _the voice pointed out.

_You're right. _he agreed. _But I still don't want anything to go wrong by him being there._

_Do you really think him helping you will only make things worse?_

_What else should I think?_

_You should put more faith in them. They're called Space Rangers and defenders of the galaxy for a reason. They're not incompetent. _

That was true and Prowl never thought otherwise but that did not keep him from changing his mind about things. He paused before stepping into another hallway. A deep feeling of dread washed over him. The cyber ninja didn't know why but for some reason he felt as if a great weight was on his shoulders, as if all the problems of both his dimension and theirs were his to bear alone.

Just like before...

"Don't be ridiculous," he said, shaking his head and scattering the thoughts. "Why would you be feeling that way? Their problems are not your own and once you have Sari back to normal and have Shadowstar back into custody, you can breathe easier and relax. Maybe you could even find some time to enjoy this whole thing somehow...."

It really wouldn't hurt to see more of the dimension. Besides Star Commander and Trade World.

What was he thinking? He didn't have time for anything like that! After he had both Sari and Shadowstar back they would go to their own dimension. Who knew what kind of things were happening while they were gone? For all he knew Megatron could have taken over by now and Cybertron could be overrun by Decepticons and Iacon could be in ruins or-

_Quit it! You don't have time to worry about such things, bolt head! You got a techno organic girl to save and vampires to take out! You can play that little what if game later!_

_Yes, you're right. _"Sparks, I'm such an idiot."

"I won't argue with you there."

Prowl gasped and turned around to face the speaker but the hall was empty save for himself. "That's strange," he said. "I could have sworn I heard somebody talking to me."

"Nobody is talking to you," the voice spoke again. "You're crazy! Why would _anyone _want to say anything to you? You sure are vain, get over yourself, Autobot."

_That voice. _He knew it very well. He'd heard it so many times he would never be able to easily forget it. _She's here._

Prowl looked around the room a moment more than spoke. "All right, Shadowstar, I know you're there so stop trying to hide yourself."

The voice spoke behind him again. "Who said I was hiding?"

He pulled out a throwing star and spun around to face her. Shadowstar moved faster than him and grabbed his wrist, yanking it painfully behind his back. Then, before he could attempt to fight back, she shoved him against the wall, face first . "Too slow," her purred in his left audio unit. "You're getting rusty in your old age."

* * *

"It wouldn't hurt him to let me know he's planning on ditching me like that," Xr complained as he wheeled down the hall. "I'm just saying. It's not like it would be hard to do. All he had to say was; "I'm going to go my own way because it will cover more ground if we split up." But no! He didn't do that because that would ruin his lone wolf image and put a dent in his ego." He folded his arms and glared at nothing, though he pictured Prowl standing in front of him. "Stupid glitch head. Doesn't he realize that this was a bad idea? What if he runs into Nos-4-a2 or that Shadowstar lady? What if _I_ run into Nos-4-a2 or Shadowstar?!"

He ducked behind a statue of Zurg when a group of Hornets walked past. Once they were gone he came back out and continued his search. "It's not like I'm asking too much. All that I want him to do is follow the rules for once."

He was so lost in thought that he didn't realize Nos-4-a2 was sitting in the hall until he wheeled into him. One minute he was walking along complaining, the next he'd tripped over the energy vampire and both wound up on the floor.

"Argh! Get off me!" Nos ordered, shoving him away.

XR scrambled to his feet. "Oh I'm sorry I- AH!" he stared in horror at the energy vampire. He wheeled away from him, making weird noises. "You-you you-"

"Oh stop that!" Nos-4-a2 ordered glaring at him. "If you can't talk properly don't talk at all, you're giving me a migraine." and he rubbed his head to prove his point.

XR pulled out his remaining gun and aimed it at him. "All right, Nos-4-a2, no funny moves!"

Nos angrily slapped the gun out of his hand. "You don't need that, you stupid space ranger," he growled. "It's not like I can go anywhere or fight with you anyway. Not in my current state."

That's when XR noticed his scratched and dented form and the broken monocle. "What happened to you?"

"Not that it's any of your business but I've been subjected to the wonderful world of that harpy's imagination." XR noticed him shudder slightly. "So now that you know go ahead and laugh, I know you want to." he folded his arms, his good optic burning with irritation. "Go ahead and rub it in that I'm totally helpless and can't protect myself. I know you want to."

"Well I-"

"Oh shut up."

He was helpless? He couldn't defend himself? Was XR lucky or what? With the energy vampire in his current state the space ranger robot could take care of him without worrying about getting himself damaged or bitten. He could knock the vampire out and carry him back to the ship. If Prowl or anyone else asked he'd make up a wild story on how he did it just to save face.

But he never got to do what he planned.

Just then Sari came out of the lab, holding some tools. "I found the stuff, Master," she said, heading toward him. "So I can start-" she stopped when she noticed XR. She recovered from her shock quickly and glared at him,. "What are_ you _doing here?"

"Sari! Thank the Nebula you're safe!" XR explained. Two for the price of one! Things were looking up. "I came here with Prowl to get you and-"

The expression on her face shut him up.

"I don't need anyone to save me," she growled. "Nor do I want it, especially not from a coward and a perverted robot."

XR looked at Nos-4-a2. "You sure got a strong hold on her," he commented.

Nos smiled sadistically. "I rather like her this way," he answered. He reached up and patted Sari's cheek. "Much better than the loud mouthed brat I had to deal with before." he pointed at him. "and she's a much better servant than you were."

Why was he pointing that out to him? Was he hoping for some kind of reaction? "Am I supposed to be jealous, because I'm not," XR informed him. He looked back at Sari. "Oh come on, Sari. You can't still be under his control after so long. Don't tell me his mind control hasn't wained even a little." he pointed at Nos. "Especially after that."

Sari responded by kicking him into the wall. Then, while he was recovering from the blow, which hadn't been all that powerful, she and knelt down to begin her repairs on Nos.

"I don't think it has." he said before laughing hysterically.

XR got to his feet and rolled his eyes. "Prowl's not going to like this."

* * *

Prowl forced himself not to think about the pain in his arm as the femme held him pinned against the wall. "Let me go, Shadowstar," he growled.

"Let you go?' she asked, sounding surprised at such an order. "Why would I want to do that?" She reached up and twined her long fingers around his neck, pulling his head back. "It's been so long since you and I have had an encounter. I'm just saying hello."

He tried to hit her with the elbow of his free hand but missed because she sensed it coming and moved out of the way. "If you want to say Hello you can do it without this. Let me go!"

"No, I don't think I will," she said as if she'd been giving the idea some thought. "I think I'll keep you this way for awhile." the hand around his neck moved away and he heard something jingling. "I got a present for you, Prowly."

Prowl didn't have to look to know what it was. Stasis cuffs? How had she gotten her hands on a pair? Well he had no intention of sticking around to find out.

When she tried to slap them on him he jerked back and slammed into her face with the back of his head. Shadowstar screamed in pain and loosened her grip on his arm just enough for the cyber ninja to break free. He spun around and kicked her in the stomach, knocking her back across the hall. She slammed into the opposite wall then fell to the floor on her hands and knees.

Prowl moved as if to escape, the femme screamed in anger and charged after him, not about to let him escape her after doing such a thing. Blue mech fluid bled down her face from her broken nose, only helping to fuel her anger.

"You're not going to get away from me, that easily, Autobot!" she roared, going into vehicle mode and shooting down the hall.

Prowl copied her movements, also reverting into his vehicle mode and burning rubber. The fembot was not far behind. She chased him down the hall and right past Zurg and Warp Darkmatter who were walking in the opposite direction. The two machines created a back draft so great that the skirt of Zurg's robe was blown into his face.

"Argh!" he exclaimed, shoving it back down. "What in the world was that?"

Warp shook his head, trying to rid his mind of the horrible image of his bosses chicken legs, before responding. "I think it was the femme," he looked down the hall and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "and it looked like she was chasing after somebody."

"Now who would she be after now?" Zurg grumbled, making sure his skirt was in its proper place. "I already let her feed on my hornets and she had her fill on Nos-4-a2." he looked down at hall as well. "She'd better not be trying to snack on a brain pod!"

"Want me to find out?" Warp asked.

That sounded like a good idea. "Go right ahead," he answered. Darkmatter took off down the hall. "and if she is trying to feed on a brain pod shoot her!" he called as an after thought.

* * *

"Commander Nebula's not going to be happy that we stole the one of the Star Hoppers," Booster pointed out as he looked nervously at Mira who sat at the controls of the machine. "If he finds out about this he might make us do something smelly as punishment."

"If we get in trouble XR and Prowl will too because they stole one as well," the Tangean pointed out, her dark blue eyes focused straight ahead. It was clear she did not want to discuss what might happen if and when Commander Nebula found out she and Booster had taken the other Star Hopper. "They're the ones who broke the rule first, we're just breaking the rule to bring them back. So our actions are justified." then she thought about that statement and admitted. "Okay they're not justified exactly, since we were told not to follow, but they're justified enough because we're only trying to fix things before they get worse and both you and I know that if they have gone after, her things are going to be much more complicated then-"

"I get the point," the red alien interrupted, not wanting to hear her ramble anymore. "I still think we should have waited."

"Waited!?" she explained. "You heard Commander Nebula; he wasn't planning on doing anything until Buzz is better and who knows when that will be? Besides; all the star ships were destroyed, no thanks to that girl, so he couldn't have sent anyone after them anyway."

"He could have if we hadn't taken the Star Hopper." he looked out the windshield. "Somebody who has much more experience."

"Hey!" she shouted, offended. "We have plenty of experience! It's not like we're fresh out of the academy or something! We've been doing this for years now!"

"I know, but.."

"No buts" she cut him off.." We're doing this and there's no turning back." she glared out the windshield, clearly unhappy that he was trying to play her conscious. "and something tells me that we're already too late."

* * *

Prowl wasn't having much success in ditching the fembot. No matter how fast he went she was right behind him, like a large black and red falcon. He tried to come up with a way to get rid of her but nothing came to mind and he was starting to get tired. He couldn't keep this up for much longer.

Suddenly he lost traction and wiped out. Shadowstar saw her chance and transformed, using her momentum to lunge forward and slam into him as he was transforming to break his fall. She landed on top of him, wrapping her arms around his body and pinning his arms at his sides. He hit the floor face first.

When the Autobot tried to get up the femme slammed her knee into his back and held him down. "So much for escaping," she said, unwrapping her arms and straightening up. She grabbed his left arm and forcing it behind his back. "You're getting slow. I was hoping to have more fun." she sniffed in disappointment. He'd ruined her fun by running. "Too bad. Though I can still have fun with you even like this."

Prowl tried to get up again but her weight held him down. "Ever try finding someone else to have your sick fun with?" he demanded.

"Actually I have," she replied, clicking the first stasis cuff around his wrist. "But he wasn't as fun as you. He didn't even have a spark and he barely put up a fight." she grabbed for his other arm which he tried desperately to keep away from her. "Well what did I expect from a drunk?"

She finally caught his hand and clicked on the other cuff. Instantly Prowl's struggling ceased and he went limp. She giggled and turned him onto his back so she could see his face. "You on the other hand will most likely give me some entertainment." she ran her finger over his chest plate, getting the desired result from him when he flinched. "Just like old times."

"No."

She frowned. "Too bad," she said. "I can make you do what I want one way or another." her optics briefly focused on his neck then she seemed to change her mind about it. "How about we try something else?"

But just as she reached for his chest plate, a voice spoke up behind her. "So that's what you were chasing."

Shadowstar's probing hand closed into a fist. She ground her teeth in anger. "Sparks," she cursed under her breath. "Does he have to show up now?' she turned her head and looked over at Warp Darkmatter. "Yes, I have."

Darkmatter walked over to her and stared down at her prisoner. His eyes widened with recognition. He'd seen this being before. "Hey, isn't this the robot from Trade World?" he asked, pointing down at him. "What's he doing here?"

"He's probably here to capture me," she replied, getting up. "But that won't happen. I incapacitated him." she kicked Prowl brutally in the side. He rolled over, forcing himself not to make any sounds when she repeated the movement twice more. "Probably here to bust out that wannabe too."

The alien looked up at her. "Why would he do that?" he inquired curiously.

She shrugged. "I don't know," she replied honestly. "But he's probably got a reason."

Warp had to agree. He stood over Prowl, his hands resting on his hips. "Well I think we should take him to Zurg then," he stated. "He'll want to know that you weren't chasing after brain pods."

Shadowstar made a face, clearly unhappy about his suggestion. Those ugly little pink squishes in the life support suits did not appeal to her even if the suits were full of energy. Aside from that she had been hoping to keep Prowl to herself and have more fun with it. It seemed now she would not be doing that because something told her Zurg would keep her from it this time. "Does he have to know?" she demanded. "Why can't you just lie and say it was?"

"Because he gave me strict orders to shoot you if that was the case and I really don't want to shoot you," he stated, looking right at her. His eyes met hers and he held her gaze. "and we should tell him because this is his palace and he has a right to know about people infiltrating his it, no matter who they are or what your relationship is with them."

Shadowstar stared at him, startled by his words. 'How do you-"

"I'm not as dumb as you think I am," Warp cut her off. He reached down and grabbed Prowl's arm, pulling him to his feet. "Once we tell him I'm sure he'll think of some way to deal with him properly."

_But I wanted to deal with him myself! _a whiny voice in her head moaned. _He belongs to meeee! _"That's what I'm afraid of."

Warp cast her a look of confusion but didn't push the matter. Something told him it would be wise just to let it drop. "Let's go," he said.

"Fine whatever," she said, folding her arms and following him down the hall, her optics burning into his back. "But can I at least carry the Autobot?"

Warp looked over his shoulder and shot her a a tolerant smile. "I'm good," he told her. "No need."

She glared at him and looked away. _Jerk. _


	36. Chapter 36

CHAP 36

Sari was actually making good time in repairing Nos-4-a2. Though she couldn't do much about the scratches on his frame she did manage to remove some of the dents and replace his broken monocle. But there was one place he would not allow her to touch. His chest. Every time she tried to to he would yell at her, telling her he'd repair that himself, so she gave up. XR noticed this and couldn't help making a comment about it. "What's wrong, Nossy?" he asked. "You got a problem? Since when have you been sensitive about people touching you in places?"

Nos-4-a2 glared at him. "I do not appreciate what you are getting at, little one."

"I'm not your little one," XR told him. "and do you even know what I'm getting at?"

"Of course," Nos replied, reaching up and re-aligning the monocle on his eye so it was back in its proper place. Now that it had been replaced he could see much better. "I'm not an idiot."

XR was tempted to question that statement but chose not to. Instead he moved out of Nos-4-a2's reach and rummaged through his drawer for a weapon. He wasn't going to be caught off guard this time if the energy vampire made any false moves. Unfortunately he didn't have anymore guns. "Craters."

Finally Sari finished repairing what she could and moved away. Nos pushed himself off the floor and was pleasantly surprised when the anti-gravity hardware worked. He turned his attention to XR who moved away further from him. "You know, I haven't fed on a normal machine for quite awhile," he commented, grinning. "How about I change that by feeding on you?"

XR backed away, realizing he'd made a mistake sticking around while Sari worked on the energy vampire. He wasn't even sure why he'd bothered to stay around for that. _Oh that's right. You didn't leave because you know Prowl would be angry if you did._

"Well forget about Prowl," he said out loud. "I'm outta here!"

Extending his arm he shoved at Nos who fell back into Sari, knocking her to the floor. While they struggled to untangle themselves XR took off down the hall, not bothering to look back.

"Get back here, Little One!" Nos-4-a2 shouted after him.

Like he was going to do that. Not with the cray vampire in perfect working order and Sari the psychotic techno organic as his slave. If he was suicidal he might but he wasn't so he didn't.

That was for the best anyway.

XR kept on running down the halls until he could not run anymore. Then he stopped and bent over, trying to catch his breath. "You wouldn't think a robot needed to breath," he gasped. "It makes no sense really and-" he cut himself off when the sound of approaching footsteps reached his audio units.

Somebody was coming.

"Uh oh. I'd better get out of sight." he looked around himself, panicking. There was no place to hide. "Craters!"

Then his optics settled on a statue of Zurg standing against the wall. Having no other choice, he jumped behind the statue, doing his best to stay out of sight. A few seconds later three figures came into view. Warp Darkmatter, the female robot vampire and between them was..

"Prowl?" _Oh craters! They got him! I knew this was going to happen! He should have listened to me!_

He watched them getting closer, wondering what he was going to do. He couldn't exactly allow them to take Prowl to wherever they were taking him but he couldn't think of any way to get him away from them. _It's times like these when I wish Buzz was here. He always comes up with good ideas to deal with problems. _

But Buzz wasn't there and would not be up to doing anything for a long time. So XR was on his own and would have to come up with something without help. It was harder than it looked, especially since he didn't have a weapon. "Craters."

Even if he did it didn't matter he wouldn't have been able to use it anyway.

At that moment Shadowstar suddenly stopped in her tracks, forcing Warp and Prowl to do the same. Darkmatter looked at her curiously, wondering why she'd halted. "What is it?" he asked her.

She put up her hand for silence. "I think," she said, her optics scanning the hallway. "We're being watched."

'"Huh?"

"Shh!' she ordered, her optics locking onto the statue of Zurg. "I think I found it."

Suddenly she moved. Before XR knew what was happening or had time to react Shadowstar kicked the statue over and stared down at the small robot cowering behind it. He stared back at her, unable to move.

"Well well," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "What do we have here?"

"Uh, hi," he said nervously. "I'm lost. You wouldn't know where I can find the little mecha's room would you?"

She reached down and grabbed him by the arm, yanking him off the floor and dangling him before her. "Uh, would it help if I said you had nice legs?" he asked. "Because those are the nicest ones I've ever laid my eyes on."

She glared at him. "Flattery will get you nowhere," she stated flatly. Then she turned back to Warp, her hand tightly clenching the space ranger robot's arm. "Look what I found."

"What we have here?" Warp said when he saw the robot. He moved over to him and grinned. "One of Lightyear's rookies." he grinned. "It looks like we have two intruders to show Zurg."

"You don't have to do that," Xr protested, thinking quickly. 'You could just pretend you never saw me and-"

'Nice try, soda can," Shadowstar said. "But you're coming."

* * *

Further down the opposite hallway, Nos-4-a2 and Sari who had followed XR watched as Shadowstar and Warp walked toward the throne room with Prowl and XR in tow.

"Do you want to still go after them now, Master?" the techno organic girl asked, looking at the energy vampire.

Nos-4-a2 watched them move away with a thoughtful expression on his face. He ran his hand over his chin as he replied. "No, not right now." he turned to the girl and touched her shoulder, grinning. "I've got a better idea. Come along, my dear. I am need of your services elsewhere. Let us make sure nothing can interfere when I finally chose to have my revenge."

She nodded. "Yes, Master," she responded, moving to follow him down the hall.

"But first," he added before they had gotten very far. "I'm going to finish my repairs." he gingerly touched his chest, remembering... remembering again what the fembot had done. _You think you're going to get away with it? No. Silly female. I don't forget being violated that easily._

"Are you all right, Master?" Sari asked him.

"I'm fine," he told her. "But like I said I need to finish repairing myself." he grabbed her wrist. "Let's find some place I can do it without interference."

* * *

Prowl was starting to get the guilty feeling again. As Warp and Shadowstar led him and XR to Zurg's throne room the Autobot noticed the smaller robot glaring at him. It was clear he was not happy that Prowl got them both caught by once again going off by himself. The Autobot didn't feel proud of it either. He felt stupid and had the urge to say he was sorry, though he couldn't do that with Warp and Shadowstar there.

_If only she hadn't cuffed me, _he thought, grinding his teeth together. _While they're on I can't do anything. Stupid pacifier. _and he had no way of getting them off either. In this universe Processor Over Matter didn't seem to work all the time or all that well. Not since he'd used it to free himself and Sari from the cables in 42.

Maybe his power levels were too low to allow him to use that ability. There was no other explanation for it. Crystal power had managed to keep him online and he could still use most of the abilities he had, including the holograms, but it wasn't enough to keep him at full power. Crystal energy was_ like _energon but it would never _be_ energon.

Shadowstar's grip tightening painfully on his arm brought him out of his thoughts. He turned his head and found her smiling that smile of her's that reminded the Autobot that he was in for major agony in the near future if she had her way. He didn't even have to be a mind reader to know what she was thinking. The vampire femme was picturing all the things she was going to do to him as soon as she got the chance. But he noticed a second thing as well.

She seemed tense and something about the way her optics were flickering told him she was annoyed about something.

_She knows she can't do anything she wants to me, _he concluded. _Because Darkmatter said I have to be taken to this Zurg being. _

He wasn't looking forward to that either but it would give him a chance to see what the creature looked like and decide for himself if the description the space rangers gave him and his reputation proceeded him.

Prowl would find out a few minutes later when Warp and Shadowstar drug their prisoners into the throne room and brought them over to the being sitting on the chair.

"Zurg," Warp said, looking up at the seated figure. "These are the beings Shadowstar was after."

Prowl looked up and stared at the creature sitting on the throne. It was a humanoid being with red eyes and silver colored horns. He wore a purple robe and dark gray armor. He also seemed to have a permanent smile on his face.

This was Zurg?

"Hmmm," the being said, leaning forward on his throne and staring down at the captives. "Very interesting."

He stood and took the stairs, his hands behind his back. The being was sure footed and didn't seem to need to use his arms to keep his balance. If he had any feet. He seemed to glide rather than walk.

Once he reached the bottom of the stairs he stood over them prisoners, looking from one to another. "I see," he said, his eyes locked on XR first. "Star Commands Expendable Ranger."

"Experimental Ranger," XR corrected, offended.

"Whatever." Zurg waved him off and turned his attention to Prowl. "Now who is this? I've never seen a machine like this one before." he leaned forward, his hand rubbing his chin, thoughtfully. "Interesting." then he noticed the Autobot symbol. "What is that?" he demanded, poking the symbol with his finger. "Who do you work for? If there another emperor trying to take over?"

For some reason this set off both XR and Shadowstar. The two robots laughed in unison. Zurg glared at them. "Something amuses you?" he demanded.

"Zurg," Shadowstar said, recovering first. 'That symbol you see on the Autobot is not for an emperor but a fraction." he walked over and touched the symbol. "It's a fraction of machines called Autobots. I have a symbol too, even if you can't see it, though mine is much different, seeing as his fraction and mine are not the same."

The evil emperor looked confused. He had no idea what she was talking about. "Fractions?"

"It's just a mark to show whose side you are on," she explained, shrugging. "Nothing to worry about."

Zurg didn't seem to see it that way. "Are you telling me there is a war going on in the galaxy I don't know about?" he demanded.

She grinned. "Well there's a war and you didn't know about it but it's not in this galaxy."

"It's not." he stared at her 'Then _what _galaxy is it in?"

"Nothing you have to worry about, my purple friend," she said, poking his forehead. "As it will never get in your way."

Zurg slapped at her hand and she withdrew it. "How are you do sure?" he asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

She shrugged. "I just do. Now why don't we get back on topic here?" she rested her hand on Prowl's shoulder and squeezed it, amiing him flinch. "Like what do you intend to do with these intruders here?"

"Oh them," Zurg looked back at Prowl and XR. He grinned and rubbed his hands together. "Put them in the dungeon for now until I think of a better way to deal with them."

"Might I suggest a few things?" she asked.

"No!" he shouted, making her jump. "You may not."

It took a moment for her to was obvious he wasn't happy about what she'd done to Nos-4-a2 and most liekly didn't want a repeat of that. While this offended her it was better not to push it. She said, resigning herself. "Fine, Zurg, whatever you say." she pulled both robots away. "Let's go."

* * *

Sari waited patiently near the door as Nos-4-a2, seated on the edge of a table in one of the labs, worked on repairing all the damage inside his system. When the two had entered the lab Sari had once again offered to repair it for him but he refused. She'd started to ask him about it but he cut her off by roaring in her face. The girl quickly backed off and apologized for prying. He then ordered her to wait over by the door and keep an eye out for any trouble while he commenced repairing.

She'd done so without protest. The girl still retained some of her stubbornness even under his control but she was obedient. He smiled to himself. Yes, she was. Obedience fit her more than that fiery personality she had before, though now that he gave that some thought, the girl's normal way of acting wasn't all bad either.

Sure she was a brat but that didn't keep him from admiring the stubborn attitude and the ability to take care of herself without anyone else there to do it for her. She could improvise. She wasn't some wimpy little wall flower that needed her prince to come and get her. If the girl hadn't acted so foolishly she could have gotten away from him by herself, and he would have enjoyed chasing her down.

After all; her energy was too tasty to pass up.

But chasing her was the last thing he wanted to do right now. He needed Sari to help him get back at both beings responsible for what happened. Zurg and Shadowstar. No thanks to them he was getting such rotten luck and it all started because that stupid femme refused to just hand over the little robot he'd lain a claim on.

_Who does that harpy think she is anyway? _he asked himself, carefully working on his damaged system. _Thinking my prey belongs to her? Think she can feast on me anytime she wants? Thinking she can.. she can VIOLATE me like that! I'm one of the most respected villains in the galaxy! There is no way I'm going to let her get away with what she did. Once I have completed my repairs she'll regret this. I'll __**make**__ her regret this. I'm show her what a real vampire can do and when I'm done she'll beg me to kill her. _

Nos-4-a2 smiled at the thought and finished his repairs, removing his hands and carefully closing the metal plating's of his chest. "Which I shall do with great pleasure," he said, his monocle lighting up maliciously. "I'm going to drain her energy slowly.."

"Master?" Sari spoke up.

"What?" he asked, looking up, irritated. Why was she interrupting his thoughts?

Sari kept her eyes focused on the hall. "Somebody is coming."

"Well deal with it," he told her. "I'm not finished repairing myself." He still had a few things to do, though they weren't inside his system.

She glanced at him and grinned maniacally, as if she was looking forward to following the order. "As you wish, Master." she said before turning and dashing out of the room, activating her blades on the way.

He watched her leave then turned back to his repairs, a smirk on his face. "Lovely..."

* * *

"This is your fault!" XR shouted, pointing at Prowl who sat in the cell across from him. "If you had just listened to me this never would have happened!"

The Autobot looked at him with a bleeding heart expression. "I know," he admitted. "It was a mistake. I'm sorry."

"Sorry won't cut it this time," the space ranger robot ranted, waving his arms around. "You're really making it hard to sympathize with you, you know that? Every time I agree to help you with something you do something dumb and make things worse!" he folded his arms. "You know, when I first met you, I used to think you were one of those level headed machines that avoided doing stupid things. It looks like I was wrong on all accounts."

Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't. The Autobot wasn't sure about anything anymore. He seemed to be constantly making trouble for himself and the people who wanted to help it. He just couldn't seem to avoid it. Maybe it had to do with everything going it. Ever since Sari had been taken he seemed to have reverted back to his old self to compensate.

_I should do some mediating, _he considered. _Try to clear my mind some more. Maybe then I'll feel more like myself._

Prowl doubted how much good it would do him. It hadn't seemed to help earlier but it was worth a try. Pulling his feet onto the mattress he folded his legs into the lotus position and began the long process of clearing his mind.

XR watched him, frowning. "So you're just going to sit there and hum to yourself," he grumbled. "Well go ahead. See if I care." he jumped onto the cot in his own cell and started running his hands over the wall. "and while you're doing that I'll try to get us out of here."

* * *

"How could he be so selfish!" Shadowstar ranted, pacing back and forth in front of Nimrod and Warp who were watching her. All three had gotten together in one of the rooms where the Brain Pods had their coffee breaks. While Warp and Nimrod had their coffee Shadowstar, who did not drink organic beverages, let off some steam. "That robot belongs to me! I won't allow him to prevent me from doing what I want with him!"

"Whoa calm down, Sky-bot," Warp said, setting his coffee down. "What is this about you owning the Autobot? What are you talking about?"

She glared at him. "You're so smart you figure that out for yourself," she snapped, her optics flashing green then red. "You really think I'm going to tell you everything about myself and the things I have lain my claims to?"

"Well whatever the reason is it sure must be a big one," he commented, picking up his coffee again and sipping it. "Is that why you seemed so determined to keep Zurg from knowing about him being here?"

"You could say that," she answered, evasively. It was obvious she did not want to explain herself to an organic. "But it's not your concern and I'd rather you not push it."

"Oh I won't push it," he told her. "But if you want to avoid trouble, you'll let this go."

"Who asked you?" she snapped, folding her arms and leaning against the wall.

"Nobody," he said, walking over to her. Before she could react he slammed his hand into the wall next to her head and leaned close forcing her to kneel down to create some space. "But I'm going to warn you anyway. Much as you refuse to admit Zurg's not an idiot nor is he incompetent. And even while you're here ranting about him and calling him names he's been plotting your demise." he grasped her shoulders, pulling her up until their faces were only inches from each other. "Now unless you want to give him a reason to terminate you right now, you won't push the issue."

The alien was hurting her as well as invading her personal space and she didn't like it. She shoved him hard in the chest, knocking him back. "If Zurg thinks he's going to get rid of me easily he's got another thing coming," she informed him. "I won't let him extinguish my spark nor will I give him any reason to speed up the process."

Shadowstar moved away from the wall and slammed both fists down onto the count top. "He won't kill me," sjhe growled. "I will not allow it. NEVER!" she turned to Darkmatter, her mood darkening. "Let's see him try it. I'd love to see that!"

"Do you really want to provoke him?" Warp asked her. He was honestly worried about her. "I'm telling you it's not a good idea."

'If he's planning on killing me any way why does it matter?" she turned from both of them and headed toward the door. "And why do you even care what happened to me?"

"Why shouldn't I care?" he wanted to know.

She ignored the question and continued on her course. "Well I'll let him think what he wants, for now. But if and when he sets it into motion, I'll be ready."


	37. Chapter 37

CHAP 37

"Maybe we should land closer to the palace," Booster suggested as Mira maneuvered the small star hopper through Planet Z's atmosphere. "It would save time, and-"

"Are you crazy?" she cut him off, looking at at the red alien with wide eyes. "If we land close to the palace Zurg's security system will pick us up and fire at us." she yanked on the control stick. "and if that fire power hits the ship, we'll crash and then we won't be any good to anyone."

"Oh.." Booster obviously hadn't thought of that. He fell silent, looking out the windshieild of the ship, down at the city. Right now it seemed peaceful, as if nobody was aware that two space rangers were about to touch down and cause trouble. Or maybe they did know but weren't worried because the two rangers were still rookies in a sense. "How are you even sure they're here?" he asked.

"Oh, they're here," she told him. She closed her eyes for a minute. "I can feel them." she pointed toward Zurg's palace. "and they're already inside."

He looked where she was pointing. "Where inside?"

Mira shook her head. "That I don't know," she responded. "all I know is that they are in the palace and most likely in trouble."

"How do you know that if you don't know where they are?"

She smirked. "Booster this is XR we're talking about," she said. "When has he never gotten in some kind of trouble?"

He could not argue with that. XR was prone to run into some kind of trouble one way or another. "But what about Prowl?" he wanted to know. "Surely he can take care of himself."

"With the way he's been acting lately I don't think Prowl is faring much better."

"If that's true we'd better hurry then."

"I'm already on it." she yanked on the stick and the ship took a sharp turn.

Mira touched down a few minutes later, landing a good distance away from the palace. That was to avoid being spotted, which incidentally was what Prowl and XR had done as well. Once she and Booster were outside of the ship they activated their jetpacks and flew toward the palace.

* * *

_He wants to get rid of me, _Shadowstar thought as she stormed down the hall. _I should have known something like this would happen eventually. I knew he wouldn't keep me around for long. After all; the only thing he wanted from me was to bring in that wannabe so he could teach him a lesson. For that one thing we both were on the same page but now that that's been taken care of.. _ She sighed, shaking her head. "What else would he need me for? He's a evil emperor. They don't exactly keep the people in their employ around for long..."

Of course Warp Darkmatter and the other aliens in Zurg's employ were an exception to the rule unless they tried to defect. She on the other hand was nothing like them and couldn't be cowed easily. Zurg seemed to know that and it was likely he didn't want to take any chances in case she decided to do what she did when she was first brought there.

But he couldn't really blame her for the way she'd acted. After all, nobody liked being taken captive for no reason then brought to some idiot who called you useless and made fun of you just because you weren't built with a male body or went by the male pronoun. If he had been in the same situation she was sure he would have acted the same way.

"Or he would have started blubbering," she said to herself. "Freaked out and never got anywhere."

_No, that doesn't sound like him. Much as I hate to admit it I'm sure he'd be more level headed than that. If he did act that way there is no way in the Pit that he would have become what he is now. _

"An all powerful evil emperor," she said somewhat sarcastically. "The scourge of the galaxy. The one whose very name strikes fear in the hearts of men." she laughed. "If _he_ is able to do that I'd love to have the people in this place meet_ Megatron_. Now that would be a spectacle. They'd probably all fall over with heart attacks."

_Megatron...._

For some reason she missed being under his rule which bothered her since he'd been such an abusive son of a glitch that she was happy when she'd finally gotten away from him. Maybe she only missed him because she considered him more of a villain than Zurg and she missed what she considered _real _villains. "But he _is_ a real villain," she reminded herself once again thinking about Zurg. "You know he is, it just makes you feel better to tell yourself he's not."

_Exactly. But thinking he is less than a villain keeps me from worrying about him removing me. If I consider him a campy stereotype I feel better and I can assure myself that if and when the time comes for him to try to kill me I can easily get out of it without a scratch. _

She paused and then took the hall to the left. "But if he is going to have me killed anyway I might as well have my fun while it lasts," she said out loud. "No sense letting him do what he wants to my property while I play a good girl if he's got an alterior motive and my coffin all picked out." she snickered. "Coffin. How fitting for a vampire."

* * *

"Hmmmmmmmm................"

"Oh come on! Can't you do that later!" XR shouted at Prowl. "Now isn't the time for finding your center!"

Prowl did not responding. He continued to ignore him, though the humming did grow louder as if he was trying to drown out the other robot's words.

It was so loud the smaller robot had to cover his audio units to block it out, even though it didn't really work that well. "If you don't stop that I'm going to leave you behind when I get out of here!" he threatened.

Still no response.

XR sighed and turned his attention to the lock on the cell door. Maybe he could pick it. It didn't seem too complicated. All he would have to do was reach inside and move his hand around a bit.....

"Craters! I'm stuck!" the robot yanked on his hand, trying to dislodge it from the lock. "Okay, that was dumb," he stated, grabbing the lock and pushing on it in hopes of freeing his hand. It did little good. "Note to self; never try picking a lock with your hand again." he looked over at Prowl. "Hey! Thanks a lot for caring!""

By then Prowl couldn't take it anymore. He stopped humming and looked over at XR. "Do you mind?" he demanded.

"Do I mind what?" he asked. "Making noise? Well sorry for interrupting your oh so important mind tripping. You'd be yelling too if your hand got stuck in a lock!"

The Autobot frowned. "How did you get your hand stuck in the lock anyway?" he demanded.

"I was trying to get out of my cell," he said, pointedly. "Unlike some people, I have no intention of sitting in the dungeon until Zurg decides he wants to have fun with me." he yanked on his hand again, in a vain attempt to free it. "You must be bonkers if you think I'm going to stick around for that."

Prowl watched the robot trying to free his hand with a frown. "Don't keep doing that," he told him. "You'll only make it worse."

"Who asked you?" XR snapped. He gave it another yank. "Mind yor own business, Mr Know-it-all."

"I'm only giving you advice." he stated. "It really isn't a good idea to pull on it like that."

"What do you suggest I do then?" the space ranger robot demanded. "Cut off my hand? I don't know about you but I've lost enough body parts in my life time, thank you every much. I think I'll keep this hand for a bit longer."

"I still think you should hold still," Prowl answered, watching him because he couldn't help him free it since they were in different cells. "If you allow yourself to remain calm and not panic you should be able to easily slide your hand out of the lock."

"Calm down?" XR shouted.

The Autobot nodded.

"Oh sure, easy for you to say, " he grumbled, allowing his arm to go limp. "You're not the one with his hand stuck in a door lock." as ranted his hand slid easily out of it and hung limply. "I mean it's not like-" his pulled his arm up to gesture with and realized it was free. The smaller robot stared at it a moment, wiggling his fingers. "Well okay so maybe it is that easy. But it still doesn't get us any closer to getting out of here."

"It would," the Autobot said, looking away from him. "If you would just let me concentrate for a few minutes."

"No offense, Prowl, but I don't think humming is going to help us out of here."

"You'd be surprised what it can do."

"Now you're starting to sound like those Ryzonian nut jobs," the robot remarked. "Breath deeply and evenly. Find your center. Find your center."

Prowl glared at him. 'That kind of attitude is really uncalled for," he told him, his optics flashing with annoyance.

"I know and that's why I do it."

Prowl chose not to respond, instead going back to mediating, humming much louder this time to drown out XR's complaints.

* * *

The poor brain pods were taken completely by surprise when a screaming banshee with red eyes and glowing blue blades coming out of her arms, lunged out of the lab and blocked their path. The two beings screamed and grabbed each other in fright, staring at the thing with wide frightened eyes.

"Wha-what are you?" the one asked his voice trembling with panic.

Sari smiled a wicked smile. "Your worst nightmare," she responded batman light, walking toward them. Her face held a maniacal expression. "Master ordered me to take care of anything that could interrupt his repairs." she raised her blades and pointed them in their faces, stopping only inches from the glass bulbs, "So if you don't want to die I would suggest running."

The pods, not wanting to face her wrath, turned in fled with the echo of her laughter chasing after them. Once they were out of sight Sari turned around and joined Nos-4-a2 back in the lab who was putting the finishing touches on his repairs.

"Did you take care of it?" he asked, not looking up.

"Yes, Master." she replied, folding her arms and leaning against the door.

"Good." he closed his fists and the plasma laser coming from his fingers winked out. "I am finished now. Let us be going, my dear. We still have much to do."

She followed him out of the room and down the hall. "Where are we going now?' she questioned him.

Nos-4-a2 smiled. "Why the control room, my dear."

* * *

"Which way do you think they went?" Booster asked Mira once they were near the palace. They moved around the side of it, heading for the back entrance that Prowl and XR had taken. "Can you sense them?"

"Booster my abilities aren't that powerful," she told him, looking over her shoulder. "I can't pinpoint exact locations. I'm still working on that."

"So I guess we'll just to search for them until we find them then," he said.

"Pretty much," she replied. She touched his arm to get his attention. "Let's go."

Then, instead of using the door at all, she ghosted them both through the palace wall.

* * *

Shadowstar drew near to the dungeon's entrance. She was sure she'd reach her destination very soon, unless of course Zurg decided he wanted to make her do something else for him. _To the Pit with him. I'm not doing anymore favors for that big toothed, purple jerk, _she thought, baring her fangs in anger. _He can take care of his problems himself. If he's going to kill me any way why should I do him any more favors?_

This was it. She would do no more. From now on she would do what she wanted to do from the beginning. Take care of Prowl by herself and finish her revenge on both the cyber ninja and Nos-4-a2.

"After all, what's the point of playing by the rules when you're just going to wind up regretting it later?"

But if wasn't like she hadn't expected it. Bad first impressions tended to form an opinion on people and it was hard to make them change their minds about it. If he viewed her as a dangerous freak by first encounter he would keep that impression until she was no longer around. Not that she was going to do anything to change his mind about it. There was no point. She didn't care all that much what he thought of her anyway.

She considered him incompetent, though she knew he wasn't. All well. It didn't matter anymore. It was time to finish what she started.

Or not.

"Oh Shadowstar..."

Zurg's voice spoke into her commlink.

She stopped in her tracks, startled. "Zurg," she growled, putting her fingers to the side of her head, opening the channel. "How did you get this frequency?"

"It wasn't that hard," he said, a smile in his voice. "Since it only required changing the code a bit."  
"What do you want?" she demanded, itching to get to the dungeon and have her fun with Prowl.

"I am in need of your assistance," he replied while looking at a security feed in one of the throne room's monitors. "It seems two of Lightyears rookies are trying infiltrate the palace. Why don't you be a good girl and take care of them for me?"

_Do it yourself, you traitorous jerk-face! _"Why should I?" she demanded. "They're not my problem."

"Shadowstar," he said, his tone like a father speaking to a child. He leaned forward in his seat and rested the tips of his finger together. "If you don't take care of them I will terminate that Autobot in the cells. Now do you want me to do that?" his grin grew bigger. "I know how much you. feel for that robot.."

She paused, her optics widening in horror. How did he know how she felt about him? Had Warp told him? She clenched her fists at her sides. _He's going to regret that. How dare he tell him! Why would he do such a thing?  
Oh that's simple. So Zurg can hold it over to you and make you do everything he tells you. _

"Well?" the evil emperor's voice held a note of impatience.

"Fine," she snapped, turning on her heel and heading back the way she came. "I'll take care of them."

"Good," he said, leaning back in his throne with contentment. "and while you're at it, why don't you pick me up some donuts?"

"Get your own donuts." she grumbled.

"Shadowstar!"

"Okay, fine! I'll get you your slagging donuts!"

* * *

"Will you stop that already?" XR demanded, grabbing the bars of his cell. "All that humming isn't going to do either one of us any good. You're giving me a processor ache! Hey, are you even listening to me?"

The Autobot made no respond. He just continued to hum, his mind centering on one thing. Opening the bars of the cells.

Ever since he'd figured out how to use the ability called Processor Over Matter it had helped him out many times. It had worked here too at the beginning until he'd run out of power and used crystals to keep himself online. Maybe they were responsible for his inability to use the power now, but he wasn't going to think about that any more. Getting out was top priority and he wasn't going to let a small thing like crystallic fusion energy hold him back.

Mastering Processor Over Matter hadn't been easy but nothing ever was.

_The doors, _he thought, concentrating harder. _Open the doors. _

Xr rolled his optics and leaned against his cell door. "He's not even listening," he grumbled before turning his attention to the drawer built into his frame. "I wonder if I have a blow torch in here?" he asked himself before beginning to rummage through it. "While Mr. Omm and humm there is wasting time I think I'll do something useful. If I have a blow torch I can melt the bars and get us both out of here.. Hello, what's this?" He pulled something out of the drawer. Something that moved. "A scorpion!?" he exclaimed when he saw what it was. "Why do I have a scorpion in here!?"

The scorpion didn't seem happy that XR was holding it by the tail and snapped his finger in his claws.

"YEOWCH!" the robot yelped in pain, dropping the bug onto the floor. "Stupid insect. I outta step on you just to show you whose boss." he crawled to the end of the cot and glared down at it. "Would you like that, you stupid arachnid? I've got a foot here with your name-"

_Click. Click. Click._

XR jumped. "Huh?" he looked back toward the cell door. It was making strange noises as if somebody had stuck a key inside the lock and was turning it. But he didn't see anybody. "What in the-"

_**Click! **_The door slid open on its own.

XR jumped off the cot and wheeled over to the door, contemplating it, his hand rubbing the base of his helmet. "I never saw that happen before," he commented. "I wonder if he-"

_**Click!**_

The sound made him jump once more. He looked over toward Prowl's cell in time to see the door slide open by itself as if an invisible hand was pulling on it. The space ranger robot stared at it, his mouth hanging open, unable to believe what he was seeing.

Prowl stopped humming at that moment and looked toward the door, spotting XR standing there, gaping. "What?" he asked him.

The robot raised a shaking finger. "How- why-what??" he asked, pointing it at the door. "Did you do that?"

The Autobot nodded.

"How?" he asked, awed.

"Processor over matter," the cyber ninja replied, swinging his legs onto the floor and standing. He faced XR. "It's something I learned from my master back on Cybertron. It enables me to do things that would be impossible otherwise." he touched the open door and smiled. "and it comes in handy."

The space ranger robot just stared, unable to say anything.

"Come on," Prowl said, exiting the cell and heading toward the way out. "Let's go. I don't want to be here whenever somebody comes to get us. Plus we still have to find Sari before something happens to her." he added.

XR moved to follow him. "Speaking of Sari," XR said wheeling up beside him. "I ran into her earlier."

The Autobot jerked his head toward him, his expression changing. "You did?" he asked, hopefully. "Where was she? Is she all right?"

"She's here," XR replied. "and about as all right as she can be since she's still under Nos-4-a2's control. Oh and-" he said as an after thought. "she repaired him."

Prowl looked startled. "Repaired him?" he asked. "Why?"

"I don't know," he replied. "Thought it might have to do with the energy vampire's current condition. When I ran into them Nos-4-a2 was covered in dents anc scratches." he shrugged. "He kind of looked like he'd been used as a crash or something like that."

"Shadowstar."

"Excuse me?"

"Nevermind," he said. "Let's just get moving. Hopefully we'll be able to find them both before something else happens."


	38. Chapter 38

CHAP 38

"Take care of the space rangers for me, get me donuts, do as I tell you or I'll kill your little toy," Shadowstar growled as she stalked down the hall toward the location where Mira and Booster were said to be. "Who does that purple people eater think he is?! He's not my boss and how dare he black mail me like that!" she slammed her fist against the wall, a habit she'd begun to form since she'd wound up in this world as a way of relieving stress. "I would like to know who told him about my lust for Prowl? I bet it was Warp Darkmatter that big mouthed blue skinned idiot!. It _has _to be him! Oh, when I get my hands on him he's going to regret ever opening his big mouth."

She slammed her fists into the wall once more, creating a loud booming sound that echoed both ways down the hall. "Big mouthed aliens," she grumbled, her optics dimming. "Always telling people things they don't need to hear. It's not any of Zurg's business how I feel about Prowl and how dare he use it to make me compliant! Slag head!"

She paused a moment, breathing heavily, trying to clam down. "Oh.. when I get out of this I'm going to-"

"Shadowstar," Zurg's voice spoke into her audio unit, interrupting her tirade. "You're not planning on doing something you shouldn't, are you?"

"Of course not," she said sweetly, or attempting to sound sweet. "Why would I?"

_Why is the link still open? I thought I shut that. Blasted commlink!_

"Good," he said, sounding satisfied."Well you'd better get moving. Because they're getting close to where you are."

"Tell me something I don't know." she muttered. Speaking louder she said. "I'm already on it."

* * *

Sari acted as a bodyguard as Nos-4-a2 and her walked down the halls toward the main control room of Zurg's palace. Whenever they ran into opposition, in the shape of hornets, Sari would take them out then rip out their power cores and offer them to the energy vampire who happily consumed took them like a child being offered candy. By the time they reached the control room, they had left a huge mess of robot parts behind them and Nos-4-a2 was at full power which meant his mood was better. He was even smiling in that sinister way again and humming too, though it was off key. Sari didn't comment on it, since she was being controlled by him and thus could not be insulting. If she'd been herself she would have pointed it out.

Sari entered the control room first while Nos-4-a2 waited in the hallway, still humming to himself. There were a few grubs seated in front of the monitors, drinking coffee and yakking about football scores. It took them a moment to notice the creature standing in the doorway with the glowing red eyes and bright blue blades.

"Wah!" they exclaimed, dropping their mugs and hiding behind their chairs. "What are you?" one asked, quivering.

"I am the collector of last souls," Sari said in a sinister voice as she walked toward them. She grinned madly. "and I am here to collect."

The Grubs didn't stick around. Not wanting this lunatic to carry out their threat, they turned tail and ran out the door, right past Nos-4-a2 who they didn't even notice. He watched them run down the hall, an amused smile on his triangular face.

"Master!" Sari called from inside. "They're gone. You can come in now."

"Lovely." he moved inside and headed over to the control panel. "Oh ravishing," he said happily. He hovered over the control panel and ran his hand over the keyboard "They left it online too. That will make things easier."

Sari moved out of the way so he could work better. Nos-4-a2 looked at the computer's for a moment then reached down and ripped off the top of the control panel. "Let's have some fun," he said, holding it with both hands. "I think I'll find out how long it take for daddy dearest to get a headache." Then he bit into it.

* * *

It was surprising to find that there were absolutely no hornets guarding any part of the palace. Booster and Mira cautiously made their way through the palace, their nerves on edge, expecting some kind of confrontation. But nothing happened. There was not a single black and yellow machine around, which was strange.

"Do you think Zurg knows we're here and is purposely allowing us to roam the palace so he can lure us into a false sense of security?" Booster wanted to know. 'I mean.. ever since we got here we haven't seen anybody."

"I don't know," Mira replied, peaking around a corner. "But if he is it's not going to work. I can sense trouble. I don't exactly know where it is but it's close."

He looked down at her, expectantly. "How close?"

"Close enough to be a problem," she replied, frowning thoughtfully. "Let's keep moving."

They moved further down the hall, watching each other's back. It kind of felt like they were being over dramatic seeing as there were no enemies to fight but they were space rangers and space rangers took no chances. Besides; the enemy was there, Mira felt it.

"Do you really think it's-" he began to ask.

"Shh!" she hissed, putting up a hand for silence. "I think I found it." then, before he could ask her any questions, she ghosted through the wall, leaving him by himself.

Mira came out of the wall a pretty good distance from where she and Booster had been standing. She looked around herself, her laser arm aimed at ready, expecting something to be there. But there was no threat. Whatever she was sensing must be hiding somewhere close by. _I'm going to have to find it, _she realized. _I just hope Booster stays put until I get back. _

She dashed down the hall. "I also hope nothing happens to him.."

Booster was still where she left him but was beginning to feel nervous. Even if he didn't have Tangean senses he still felt as if something was watching him. He looked around himself a few times, his laser pointed out just in case. So far nothing had jumped out at him but it only helped to make him even more unsettled.

"Where are you?" he asked, his eyes sweeping the hall. "Show yourself."

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

He sighed. "Maybe I'm just being jumpy," he told himself. "Maybe there really _isn't _anything there and she's just imagining it." he turned back to the way she went. "Maybe I should-" a figured blocked his progress. "AH! What are you?"

The creature, a black and red being with wings and sinister glowing red optics, grinned, baring two sharp, white fangs. "I'm sure you already know the answer to that question, space ranger."

Booster seemed to fumble for a moment then he aimed his laser at her chest. "Don't move!" he ordered. "In the name of the Galactic Alliance you're under arrest."

She looked from him to the laser to his face again, raising an eye ridge in amusement. "Is that supposed to scare me?" she questioned, walking toward him. "Because it doesn't. Let me show you how it's done."

The red space ranger backed away from her, his laser still trained on her spark chamber. "I said don't move!" he ordered. "Don't make me shoot you."

"Oh, don't worry about that," she assured him, smirking. "You won't."

She lunged.

Booster panicked and dodged out of the way. She landed on the floor where he'd been standing and twisted around, swinging her leg, tripping him. He hit the floor hard. She got up first and came at him. He aimed his laser at her and fired. It hit her in the chest, breaking the glass over her cockpit and exposing the spark.

She screamed in pain and backed away, her hand instantly covering the area as blue mech fluid bled out of the broken chamber. "I can't believe you did that," she whined.

While the fembot was distracted Booster got to his feet and came at her, punching her square in the face. She flew into the air until she hit the ceiling then crashed to the floor, landing painfully on her back. "Ow," she moaned, sitting up and grabbing her aching face. "Zurg said this would be easy-huh?"

The laser pointer was locked on her face. She lifted her head and saw the Joadian space ranger aiming his laser at her. "Like I said, don't move," he ordered.

She glared up at him, baring her fangs. "You really think you can take me out that easily?" she demanded. "If you think that, you've got another thing coming."

Shadowstar moved fast, kicking Booster's arm so it aimed at the ceiling. When she did this he accidentally fired the laser, the beam hitting the ceiling and breaking out large chunks that rained down on him. The femme quickly dived out of the way. When she looked back she saw the alien buried under chunks of plaster. But he was unconscious or dead?

No the alien wasn't either of those things. He was alive and was actually trying to get out from under the mess.

"You sure are stubborn," she growled, walking over to him, her one hand still covering her exposed spark chamber. She knelt down in front of him. "How about I take care of that?"

Booster growled at her and tried to punch her face. She instinctually moved her head back, avoiding the blow. "Oh now don't be like that," she said, condescendingly. "It's not like I'm going to kill you. Zurg never said he wanted you dead, even though he also didn't mention keeping you alive either. I'm just going to make sure you can't do anything for awhile."

When he tried to punch her again, she grabbed his arm and held it away from her face. He tried to pull it free but she was strong for such a petite looking figure and he couldn't get it back. She stared at his arm, studying the suit. It was mechanical, though it felt a bit like normal clothing. She could feel the energy thrumming inside through her fingers.

"Let go of me!" he shouted.

"Not until I fix what you broke," she replied then sunk her teeth into the suit.

Zap!

The power of his suit drained out of it and into the femme. He didn't really feel it go but a warning sound informed his the power was draining. Not wanting his suit to become useless he tried to pull himself free but it did little good.

But she did not drain all the power. She only consumed enough to fix her broken spark chamber. Oh, she was tempted to take it all but something told her she might have to use these guys later, should Zurg decide he really did want to kill her.

They could prove to be a good diversion while she made her escape. After all, what was more important? Killing her or dealing with Star Command space rangers?

Once she was done with her snack she let go of his arm and stood over him, deciding what she wanted to do. She looked down at the alien for a moment then her optics fell on the ceiling parts pinning him to the floor. Without a word she moved toward them and began to lift them off.

* * *

"Where do you think Nos-4-a2 might have taken Sari?" Prowl asked XR as they moved quickly through the halls of Zurg's palace.

"I haven't the faintest idea," he replied, shrugging. How could he know that? He couldn't get inside the energy vampire's head. Prowl always seemed to ask him about Nos-4-a2's behavior about things seeing as he was once his servant. Just because he'd been under his control didn't mean he knew how he thought. It was a little annoying. "But wherever it is, I doubt he's treating her respectfully."

"Don't say that!" the Autobot snapped, horrified by the very suggestion. "Sari's not like that!"

"I didn't mean it that way," the robot responded, defensively. "I just meant that-"

"Forget it," the cyber ninja cut him off, not wanting to discuss it any further. "I'm not sure I want to know."

"Well if you want to find her why don't you use those ninja powers of yours you used back there?" Xr suggested, referring to when they'd been in the dungeon. "They seemed to work then."

"Processor Over Matter doesn't work like that," Prowl told him, sounding offended by his suggestion. "I can only use it to move objects, not find people."

"Oh. Well then that just stinks, doesn't it?"

The Autobot ignored him. "Let's just keep moving," he said.

"Fine fine."

* * *

Mira still wasn't having any luck finding the threat but she began to feel that the further she moved away from the spot where she'd left Booster the fainter the feeling became. This told her that she was moving away from it. "But if I'm moving away," she said to herself. 'That means-"

Then she heard the sound of the ceiling caving in and her hunch was confirmed. "Craters," she cursed, diving into the wall and heading back to Booster. "I should have known this was a trap."

Mira came out of the wall a few seconds later. She looked around until she spotted Booster lying on the floor. He was unconscious. "Booster!" the Tangean space ranger exclaimed, running over to him and kneeling down. "Are you all right?"

"I'm afraid he won't be able to answer that for awhile," a voice spoke up behind her.

Mira jumped then looked over her shoulder. She saw the energy vampire femme standing behind her with her hands resting on her slim, black hips. "You!"

Shadowstar smirked. "Me. More or less."

"What did you do to him?" Mira demanded, standing up and facing the femme.

"Well I didn't bite him if that's what you're thinking," she replied, making a face. "I don't drink blood." she looked disgusted at the very idea. "The very idea is appalling. All I did was knock him out. He'll be fine. You've got nothing to worry about, flesh bag."

Mira glared at her. She recognized this fembot. She'd seen her in the sewer back on Trade World when they'd run into Warp Darkmatter. She was the robot Prowl and Sari were after. "You're Shadowstar," she stated.

The femme smiled. "I shouldn't be surprised you know my name," she stated. "Seeing as the Autobot is on your side." she cocked her head. "I bet he told you everything about me too."

"I didn't think from what Prowl said about you that you'd willingly work for _anybody," _Mira stated, pointing into her face. "But here you are working for evil emperor Zurg. So what did he promise you? Power? Wealth? An unending supply of machines to feed upon?"

"What he promised me isn't any of your business," Shadowstar growled. "The only thing you need to worry about is what's going to happen after I bring the both of you in."

Mira smirked. "Oh yeah?" she asked. "Well don't get your hopes up. I've got no intention of letting that happen." she aimed her wrist laser at the femme. "But since you insist on causing trouble, then I'm going to bring you in."

She fired.

Shadowstar moved out of the why by shooting into the air. She hovered over the Tangean for a moment. "You would have taken me in whether I worked for Zurg or not," she pointed out accurately. "Especially after everything Prowl told you about me. In fact; you'd arrest me just for being an energy vampire." she lunged at her. "Well I have to eat too, you know!"

Mira didn't move out of the femme's way. She just stood still and allowed her to ghost right through her body. Shadowstar's optics widened in surprise. She hadn't been expecting that! How had that organic being done it? What was she anyway?

When she came out Mira turned and kicked her in the back, knocking her to the floor.

Shadowstar landed on all fours and didn't bother wondering about it the beings abilities. She was under orders to take care of these losers and if she didn't she would never be able to get her revenge on Prowl. _Sparks! I hate it when egotistical megalomaniacs use my weaknesses to their advantage. _

Mira swung at her again but the fembot jumped out of the want, landing beside the unconscious Booster.

"Get away from him!" the woman shouted, firing her laser at the robot.

The Decepticon femme moved fast, reaching down and grabbing up the red alien. She lifted him off the floor and held him in front of her, using him as a sheild. The laser hit him in the chest and he cried out.

"Booster!" Mira shouted, her eyes wide in horror. "Let him go!"

"No I don't think I'll do that," the femme responded, smirking. She held him before her, her hands gripping the back of his suit. "Because if I do I know you'll just attack me and I don't want that. I've got a better idea. How about you give yourself up and then I'll let him go."

"No!"

"Then I guess I'll just keep on using him as a shield, seeing as you can't hurt me as long as I'm doing so," she said, looking at her talons. "and since he's so big even if she tried to hit me from another angle you'll only hit him that way as well."

Mira was having trouble now. She didn't want to hit Booster but she didn't want to give up either. _What would Buzz do if he was here? _she asked herself, grinding her teeth together in frustration. _Would he give or up would he fight or would he pretend to give up until he though of a plan to escape? _

She was having such a hard time making up her mind that she didn't notice Warp Darkmatter sneaking up behind her nor did she expect the blow that came after. One minute she was standing there, trying to decide what to do and the next her head filled with pain and then everything went black.

She collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

Shadowstar stared down at the Tangean then looked up at Warp. "Where did you come from?" she demanded.

Darkmatter made a face. "Your welcome," he said sarcastically. "No thanks required."

"I never asked for your help," she responded, letting go of Booster. He crashed to the floor. She ignored him, focusing her attention on the blue skinned alien. She rested her hands on her hips."Especially after you opened your big mouth and told Zurg how I felt about that Autobot."

Warp stared at her in confusion. "Huh?"

"You know what I'm talking about," she shouted, her optics flashing in anger and.. hurt? "He knows how I feel and used that to blackmail me into taking out these wannabes." she pointed an accusing finger at him "You're the only one who knew about it so it _had _to be you."

"I can assure you I have no idea what you're talking about," he responded looking upset that she'd think he'd do such a thing.

"Don't lie to me!" she almost screamed.

"I'm not!"

"Then how does he know?" she snapped.

"I have no idea," she replied, reaching down and picking up the unconscious Mira. "But right now I think we should just get these guys to Zurg before he gets angry."

"We can't." she stated.

"Why not."

She frowned. "I have to pick up some donuts for the jerk first."

Warp laughed.

* * *

Prowl peeked around the corner and looked down the hall, expecting to see some hornets milling around. Once again he saw nothing, except an empty hallway. He sighed in relief and pulled his head back. He leaned against the wall to rest a moment and breath to calm his frayed nerves.

"Anything there?" XR asked him.

He shook his head. "No, just like all the others."

"Hmm," XR said rubbing his chin. "I wonder where all those hornets got to? It's not like Zurg to clear the way for us. Do you think he knows we got out?"

Prowl shrugged. "You know him better than I do," he responded. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"Then what are we waiting for then?" XR asked, moving forward. He reached up and grabbed Prowl's arm as he passed him. "Let's get moving."


	39. Chapter 39

CHAPTER 39

Zurg leaned forward in his throne when Shadowstar and Warp Darkmatter entered the throne room with the prisoners. "Ah, Shadowstar, I see you were able to capture Lightyear's rookies without a hitch." he made a sheepish face as if remembering something embarrassing. "Incidentally, you didn't happen to get my donuts, did you?"

Shadowstar sighed loudly. "Yes, I got your donuts," she grumbled, activating her thrusters and flying up and over. She handed him the box. "Here you are," she said sweetly, though the shaking of her body told everyone that she wasn't really happy about it. _I should have put arsenic in them. _

"Why thank you, my dear," he said taking it. he reached over and pinched her cheek. "Aren't you just the most generous lackey?"

"Looks like you've got a new errand boy, Zurg," Mira commented who by then had regained consciousness. She tried to move toward him but Warp held her back by grabbing her arm and aiming his gun at her head. Booster was also wake but there were two hornets with their guns trained on him and he didn't want to get shot. "So what did you tell her to get her to be so complaint?"

"That's not any of your business, Princess" he said, taking out a donut and sampling it. "Oh, these are so good!" he waved her away. "You did an excellent job. You can join the others now."

Shadowstar rolled her optics and returned to the floor. But she didn't land. She hovered in the air with her arms folded and an angry expression on her dark face. It was obvious she didn't like being reminded of that or was happy about being under his thumb. _He's going to regret this!_

Zurg stood up and walked down the stairs to confront both space rangers. "I see that Lightyear is not with you," he commented. "Now why is that?" he looked around himself. "He didn't by any chance send you two in as a diversion while he comes in another way and ambushes me?"

"I don't think you need to worry about that, Zurg," Shadowstar spoke up. "Judging from the recent arrival and confinement of the two robots these two are here for a completely different reason that does not involve this Buzz Lightyear."

"How would you know that?" he snapped, glaring at her.

"Trust me, I do," she stated. "I've seen this concept done before." she landed on the floor. "Or maybe I'm just guessing, seeing as they didn't really explain to me why they are here or what they're doing here."

"I believe it's obvious," Warp spoke up. "They're here to spring the robots."

"Oh of course," Zurg said. "Since space rangers would do anything to save their precious friends." he faced the rookies. "Well you won't have to worry about them, since you'll be joining them shortly." then he laughed and looked at Warp and Shadowstar. "Take them to the dungeon!"

And just as he said this the lights went out.

"Ah! What in the name of Jupiter?" he exclaimed, startled. "Who turned out the lights!?"

"I did," spoke up a all too familair voice.

Zurg turned toward the voice. "Huh?" when he saw who it was his eyes widened in shock. "You!"

Everyone lifted their heads and looked at the monotors. A grinning triangular face wearing a monocle appeared on the screen. "Hello, daddy dearest," he greeted.

"Nos-4-a2!" Zurg exclaimed, his eyes as big as saucers. He shot a look at Shadowstar. "How did he get out of his cell? What did you do?"

"Don't blame me for this!" she shouted, offended. "How should I know? After what I did to him he shouldn't be able to move much less smile!"

"Oh I can assure you I can do more than that," Nos-4-a2 responded before Zurg could open his mouth. He leaned toward the screen. "In fact why don't I show you what I can do since I have full control of the security system anyway?"

Just then they all heard the sound of doors opening. The three villains as well as Mira and Booster looked around themselves. Every door leading into the throne room was open and crowding the doorways were legions of hornets. As soon as the doors opened all the way the robots started firing, all the while moving forward.

"He hacked the hornet's mainframes too?" Warp Darkmatter exclaimed before being forced to dive out of the way of laser fire when the two hornets guarding Booster opened fire as well.

"I guess so," Mira responded, ghosting out of his hold and firing a laser beam at the nearest machine. "But that doesn't change the fact that we have to take care of them before they kill all of us."

Warp got to his feet and fired his arm gun at two hornets. They blew up, their parts flying in all directions. "They're not going to kill me," he stated, his face full of determination. "I don't know about you but I'm not going to go out that way."

The Tangean ignored him.

"Ah! Help me!" Zurg, who currently didn't have a weapon ion him, screamed, diving to the floor to avoid being hit. He found himself at Booster's feet. "Ah! Stay away from me!" he yelped, scooting backward.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Zurg," the red alien snapped, firing at some hornets. "You're not the problem at the moment so just stay where you are if you're not going to help."

Meanwhile Shadowstar had taken to the air and was using the gun she'd stolen from Zurg to fire at the hornets. Since they seemed to be intent on shooting everything on the floor she manged to take a few out before Nos turned a few of the machine's attention upward. they raised their arms and fired at her.. She took a shot in the wing and screamed.

The other vampire laughed at her.

She glared up at him, "You're going to pay for that!" she threatened.

He smirked. 'Ooh I'm so scared," he taunted. "But I'd save my energy if I was you since you have other more important things to worry about right now."

* * *

Prowl and XR had just reached the third floor of the palace when the lights blinked out, leaving them in the dark. "What in the All Spark?" Prowl asked, trying to see in the darkness. "What happened?"

Beside him XR turned on the headlights of his optics so he could see in the dark. Prowl followed his lead and turned on his night vision. The cyber ninja looked over at the smaller robot and saw what he looked like with glowing eyes. _He looks like a car. _

"Looks like Zurg had a power failure," the space ranger robot commented.

"Hmm interesting," Prowl mused. "But something tells me that it wasn't just an accident."

"Huh?"

"I believe that one responsible is who we're looking for." Prowl took off down the hall, not eve waiting for XR to followed.

"Hey! Wait!" the other robot shouted, speeding after him. "You don't even know where to look!"

"Yes I do," Prowl called back to him. "The control room."

"Do you even know where that is?" he demanded, folding his arms and giving him a look though the potency of it was ruined by his headlights. They just made it seem comical though Prowl was smart enough not to laugh.

As for his question.. Prowl didn't. He'd never been in this castle before.

"You're right." the Autobot stopped in his tracks. XR wheeled right into him and bounced off his legs. He flew across the room and hit the floor with a crash. "Will you stop doing that!?" the smaller robot shouted angrily.

The cyber ninja looked back at him. "You know where the control room is," he stated, ignoring what XR had said.

"Of course I do," XR replied, rubbing his rear end as he stood up. "I know where almost everything is here."

Prowl moved back to the other robot and grabbed his arm. "Then take me to it," he ordered before throwing the robot into the air. XR screamed as he flew upward. While he was in the air Prowl transformed into vehicle mode. XR landed on the seat. "Let's go." he said then took of down the hall with XR holding onto the handle bars for dear life.

"Whoa! Slow down! Are you trying to kill me?!"

* * *

In the control room Nos-4-a2 and Sari watched on the monitors as Zurg and the others fought the hornets in the throne room. When the fembot was hit by a blast of plasma and knocked screaming to the floor the energy vampire burst out laughing. "Jolly good!" he exclaimed.

It served her right. He just hoped they didn't kill her since he wanted to deal with that part personally. _But why kill her? Why not just drain all her energy except for a little and repeat the process a few times? That will teach her to underestimate me!_

A blinking on the screen caught his attention. He looked away from the fight and focused his gaze on the other image. Through the gloom of the darkened hall he made out XR and the Autubot. "Hmm," he said, rubbing his chin. "It seems we're about to have company." he grinned and turned to Sari. "Why don't you go out and welcome them, my dear?"

She nodded and left,.activating her blades as she went.

* * *

"We're almost there!" XR shouted. "You can slow down now!"

How he hated when the Autobot did this. Why couldn't he just walk like normal robots?

Prowl put on the brakes so fast he sent the robot, who had relaxed his grip, flying over him.

XR landed on the floor in front of him. "You did that on purpose!" he accused, pointing a finger at him.

"I'm sorry," Prowl apologized, reverting back to standard mode.

"I hope so," XR got up, frowning. "I might be durable but that doesn't mean I like being thrown around all the time."

"Shh!" Prowl hissed, putting a finger to his lip components. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Quiet!"  
"No need to shout," the other robot grumbled. "Not if you're adamant about me being quiet and all-"

The sound of approaching footsteps made him go silent. He looked toward the sound but it was too dark to see who it was. He turned on his night vision but whoever it was too far away. Prowl was also looking toward the sound but he was seeing something that XR did not. A familiar silhouette. Even if he could not see her face he could tell who she was just by her frame.

"Sari," he whispered recognizing her instantly.

XR looked up at him. "Sari?"

Just then the lights came on and Prowl's words proved to be true. The girl stood a few feet away, glaring at them.

"Sari!" Prowl exclaimed, feeling relief wash over him. She was all right but the color of her eyes told him she was still under Nos-4-a2's control. _But not for long. _

"Oh great," XR grumbled. "She's still a minion."

"Not if I can help it," Prowl stated, his hand resting on the hollow spot on his chest plate.. _When Sari sees this key I know she'll return to normal. If XR can come back to himself seeing a document about his creation this should work since it's got such sentimental value. _

But first he had toi get close enough to show it to her and that chance would come sooner than he thought. At that moment Sari activated the blades in her arms and rushed at them, screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Uh oh! Here she comes!" XR shouted, his optics widening.

Prowl didn't move. He stood in ground and faced her, his hands balled into tight fists and his expression one of determination. _I hope this works. _

"Prowl, get out of her way!" XR shouted, moving further down the hall. That girl was dangerous. He had no intention of winding up like Buzz. "Prowl!"

The Autobot stood like a stone. If he moved or ran he would lose his chance to get through to her. But he wasn't going to allow it to happen. He'd waited long enough to save her from the energy vampire's control, he wasn't going to wait any longer. "This is it."

Sari swung at him when she got close enough. He dodged the blow then reached out and grabbed her arm. She let out a yelp of surprise when he twisted her arm behind her back and pinned her against the wall. "Let me go!" she screamed.

"I am sorry if I'm hurting you," he apologized, keeping her still. "But I don't have a choice."

"Release me!" she ordered, struggling to free herself. "You have no right to do this to me!"

"Sari, please," he begged. "Listen to me-"

"There's nothing to hear!" she shoved her elbow into his chest plate, sending electrical pain lancing through his frame. He grunted and released her. The girl spun around and kicked him away, knocking him to the floor.

"Prowl!" XR shouted, rushing forward to assist.

Sari turned to face him. "Back off!" she yelled, kicking the other robot square in the chest. He rocketed across the room until he slammed into the wall then bounced off and hit the floor, hard. "Now stay there!"

Like he had a choice. Something told him it would be best not to disobey the order.

Sari turned her attention back to Prowl who was getting to his feet. She deactivated the blades and used her hammer instead, rushing toward him, screaming. Prowl saw her coming but didn't move. She slammed the hammer into him but nothing happened. His image flickered then blinked out. A hologram.

The techno organic girl blinked. She hadn't been expecting that. "Huh?" she looked around herself. "Where are you? Come out and fight, you coward!"

Just then the Autobot came up from behind and grabbed her, wrapping his arms around her body, pinning her arms to her sides so she could not use her blades. "Hey! No fair!"

"Hey, you got her," XR said, getting up and moving toward him. "Hold her this time."

Prowl was trying to but it was proving to be harder than it looked. Thanks to Nos-4-a2's dark power she was much stronger. "XR," he said, his voice strained. "I want you to go to the control room and see what you can do about Nos-4-a2."

"Me take on Nos-4-a2?!" XR looked terrified at the idea. "Are you _nuts_?"

"If I can't get through to her I might have to have him break the control himself," the Autobot responded. "But I can't do anything about him right now. So please."

"All right," Xr consented. The look on the cyber ninja's face made him realize now wasn't the time to argue. He wheeled away. "Why do I always wind up having to deal with him by myself?"

"Master!" Sari exclaimed, watching the robotic space ranger move away. "Don't you dare touch my Master!"

"Sari, calm down," Prowl ordered.

"Don't order me around, coward!" she shouted, struggling to free herself. His current hold was much more secure than the other one and she had no way of breaking it. "Now let me go or I'll blow your brains out!"

"Sari, listen to me," Prowl said, trying desperately to get through to her. "Nos-4-a2 is _not_ your master. You're not his servant. You're my friend!"

"Who would ever want to be friends with you?" she growled. "You suck! You're a cowardly chicken who runs away when he has the chance to help people! I don't want to be friends with somebody like that!"

"Yes, it's true I did run away," he admitted, the pain from that memory coming back. "I'm sorry."

"Your sorry is too late," she snapped. 'Two days too late."

Talking to her wasn't doing much besides making her more angry and depressing him. He would have to try getting to her by using the key after all. But he couldn't reach the key while he was holding onto the girl. He would have to let her go so he could get to it.

It was a bad idea but he didn't have a choice. He couldn't keep on holding onto her like this anyway. So he let her go, knowing full well he was just asking for damage.

The instant he did she reacted. She activated her blades and spun around, driving both blades into his chest before he could do anything to stop her. He stared at her wide eyed, unable to believe what had just happened, then crashed to the floor, mech fluid gushing from the wounds and staining the floor a glowing purple color.

_Why? _He coughed and more robot blood came out of his mouth. He stared at it, too upset to react any other way.

"Serves you right."

Prowl lifted his head and stared up into the dark skinned girl's glowing red eyes. "Sari," he tried to say before he coughed again. She grinned and knelt down to look him in the face.

Sari reached out and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look her in the eyes. "That must really hurt," she commented, taking in the damage and vital fluids spilling onto the carpet. "Why don't I put you out of your misery?" she raised her hand which held the blade.

But before she could Prowl reached into the hollow spot in his chest and with trembling, blood stained fingers, pulled the key out. He raised his arm and shoved it into her face. "Sari, remember who you are!" he managed to say. "You're not a vampire minion. You're a good person and my friend! Please don't- Don't-" his optics flickered out and he collapsed to the floor, the key falling out of his hand and landing at her feet.

* * *

Shadowstar was slowly running out of power. While the two space rangers, Warp and Zurg fought on the ground she stayed airborne and tried to kill as many hornets as she could but they all seemed to have focused their firepower on her over the others and she wound up being hit a lot. Her frame was covered in scratches and dents that bled blue mech fluid.

Above her on the monitor's Nos-4-a2's gloating face hovered, watching her plight with a look of sick satisfaction. "What'd wrong, my dear?" he asked her. "You look tired."

"Shut your mouth you glitch head!"

"Why don't you come up here and make me?"

Oh how she longed to do so.

_He's going to pay for this when I get my hands on him, _she vowed, using Zurg's gun to blow up two hornets they kept on shooting at her. They exploded instantly, bringing a small smile of satisfaction to her lips. _Just wait until I get my hands around that skinny little neck of his. I'll give him more than a routine torture session this time! He'll be begging me to stop but I won't. That will fix his little wagon!_

A blast of energy hit her in the back. She screamed in pain as one of her wings cracked and then turned to glare down at the one responsible. A lone hornet standing off from the others was aiming his guns at her.

He'd done it.

Well he wasn't going to get away with it. She transformed into vehicle mode and flew toward him, her engines screaming. 'You're not going to make it out of here alive!" she yelled seconds before shooting off two missiles that hit their target and blew it up.


	40. Chapter 40

CHAPTER 40

XR moved stealthily toward the door to the control room, doing his best not to make any sounds that would alert Nos-4-a2 that he was there. But he didn't have to worry about that. The energy vampire was making so much noise that XR could have set off a bomb and he never would have noticed. That didn't serve to ease the robotic space ranger's mind, though. The energy vampire had surprised him before by acting distracted when he really wasn't.

"Oh I hope he keeps his eyes on the monitors," the smaller robot said, poking his head into the control room.

Nos-4-a2 was seated on one of the chairs, his attention focused completely on the screens.

_Oh good. He's distracted. _

XR moved carefully into the room, reaching inside his drawer in hopes of finding some kind of weapon he might have missed. "Now if only-"

A sudden burst of laughter from the energy vampire's voice box made XR dash back itno the hall. He poked his head inside, expecting to see Nos looking in his direction. But Nos-4-a2 wasn't paying any attention to him. He was laughing at something on one of the monitors. XR looked up at the screen and saw the other energy vampire crash to the floor. So that's what he was watching.

Good. If he was laughing it up at the expense of the other energy vampire then it was fine with him. She was just as creepy and he didnt' feel bad for her.

The robot moved back into the room and carefully made his way over to him.

"I just love seeing my enemies get what's coming to them," Nos-4-a2 started talking to himself. "It makes me feel all good inside to get revenge on those who thought they got away with doing such dreadful things to me." he laughed. "As they say, what goes around comes around."

Just then his spun the chair around, taking XR by surprise. Now he was facing the other robot who froze, his optics widening in terror as the energy vampire locked eyes with him and grinned. "Isn't that right, Little One?"

* * *

Sari stared from the offline Prowl before her to the key at her feet. Satisfied that Prowl would not get back up, she deactivated the blades in her arms and picked up the key, holding it before her. "What is this?" she asked, turning it over in her hands.

Suddenly something seemed to click. Her mind filled with images of what had happened since she'd first met the Autobots. All the things they'd done, all the fun they'd had. All the adventures and danger they'd gone through. All the times she came to Prowl to tell him her problems. He'd listened. He's always listened and was always grateful when she helped him. He'd always smiled after thanking her...

He was her friend after all. Like an older brother, or her father when he'd been kidnapped by Megatron.

"Prowl?" She blinked. Her eyes changed back to their normal blue, as she remembered more. They flicked red again. She shook her head, removing the mind control by force of will. _No! i won't allow it to come back!_

Her eyes blinked back to blue and this time they stayed that way. She stared at the key a little longer than focused her attention on the unconscious Prowl who lay in a pool of his own vital fluids. "Prowl!" she exclaimed in horror, kneeling down.

She wrapped her arms around his frame and pulled him gently into her lap, turning him over so he faced her. "Prowl!" she screamed. "Wake up! Don't do this time me!" she shook him tears springing to her eyes. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! It wasn't my fault! I knew you wouldn't let me down! I'm sorry for saying such things I couldn't help it!"

Still she received no response. "Prowl?"

Was he dead? She rested her hand on his chest and closed her eyes, concentrating, tears running down her cheeks. If he was gone she didn't know what she was going to do. But. No, he wasn't dead, just dangerously close to it. She had to do something. But what?

Sari opened her eyes and looked at the key in her hand. It hadn't worked right since she'd used it on herself. In fact it hadn't worked at all since then. It was what most people considered dead. _So then why did he keep it? _she asked herself. _and why did he carry it around? _

She looked down at his face. Why?

Well she couldn't ask him if he was dead. But how was she going to save him? She had no way of repairing him. Unless...

She looked back at the key. "Unless I can get this to work," she said out loud.

But how? How was she going to get it to work? It wasn't that easy. She'd tried it before.

Well there was no time to worry about it. Prowl's life was fading and she had to do something. "Even if it doesn't work..."

She gently set the robot onto the floor and wiped the mech fluid off his chest. Then she carefully opened pulled open the damaged plating and looked at his inner workings, searching for the thing she'd put the key into before. Finally she found it. Taking a deep breath she lifted the key and gently inserted it into the opening.

Nothing happened.

"No!" she exclaimed, angrily. "Don't do this time me!" she pushed it in further. "Work! Work you blasted key!"

She almost yanked it out and threw it against the wall but when she did she found it was stuck. "O great, now it won't come out," she grumbled, wiggling it around. "Is this punishment for me being turned into a vampire minion and almost killing him? I didn't mean to, honest! It wasn't my-"

Suddenly her hands started glowing, she stared at them in shock. As the illumination grew brighter the key began to light up as well. As she watched it, brightened up until it was at full power. The light spread from the key to Prowl's body, illuminating it in a soft blue light. All the damage he'd sustained slowly began to heal itself and after a few seconds he was completely repaired. The key then powered down and went gray, turning cold in her hands.

Sari blinked then lifted the key to her face. "Did I do that?" she asked herself.

Prowl moaned, taking her thoughts off what had just happened. It wasn't important anymore. The only thing that was was the Autobot. She turned her attention back to him. His optics flickered then lit up to full brilliance. He stared up at her face. She smiled. "Welcome back, Prowl."

"Sari," he said, his voice filling with relief. "You're you again."

"Yes, I'm me," she said smiling and waving the key. "Nobody can be me but me." she grabbed his shoulders and pulled him into a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

He raised his arms and returned the embrace. It felt so good to have the girl back to normal again. "But how did you-?"

She let him go and waved the key in front his his face. "How else?" she asked. "Thank you."

He smiled.

"Now why don't you tell me what's happened?" she looked around herself. "I've never seen this place before. What's going on?"

* * *

Shadowstar was fighting a losing battle. Every time she or the beings below her killed a hornet, two more would take their places. It eventually became clear that she wasn't going to win against them. In fact she was already losing. Her power levels were dangerously low and she was covered in damage. If she didn't feed on something soon she was going to go into stasis and she couldn't afford to let that happen.

"One," she said, diving toward the machines. "Just one."

She'd nearly reached one when she was hit with a blast from behind. The femme screamed and crashed onto the floor, landing on her stomach. As she pushed herself onto her hands and knees, she felt a horrible agony in her wings and glanced over her shoulders. The black and red appendages were covered in spidery cracks. She would not be able to fly anymore. But who had hit her? The blast seemed way too powerful to be from a mere hornet.

"Direct hit."

The femme glanced over at Zurg. He held one of his three barreled blasters but he wasn't aiming it at the hornets still shooting around them, he was aiming it at her!

"Zurg!" she exclaimed, her optics widening in shock. "What is the meaning of this?"

"I think you know the answer to that, my dear energy vampire," he responded, moving over to her, totally ignoring the fight going on around them. He didn't care about that, his full attention was focused on the damaged femme kneeling before him. "If I had just gotten rid of him like I'd planned instead of allowing you to convince me to teach him a lesson this never would have happened."

She backed away, her optics locking on that gun. "You didn't have to agree," she told him, trying to come up with a way to make him lower the weapon. "I never made you agree to it."

"Silence!" he ordered, aiming the gun at her face. "I agreed to it because it seemed like a good idea at the time. Now I know that the only reason you wanted that was because you intended to do things to him. You never had any notion to kill him, you just wanted to have fun."

"That is not true!" she protested. "I did intent to kill at him first."

"At _first?!" _he boomed. "So you changed your mind then? You thought that I'd go along with it because I'm stupid and you can't take me seriously?" the gun charged up and she could see the barrels glowing green. "Well who's the idiot now? I'd like to see you make light of this!"

He fired.

Shadowstar's reflexes were the only hings that saved her. She dived out of the way, just barely avoiding the blast. She landed on her stomach. "Sparks!" she cursed, more angry at herself than the evil emperor. "How could I have been so stupid?"

She heard the sound of his gun charging up again and scrambled to her feet, dashing out of the way just in time. The floor exploded behind her, sneind her flying across the room. She hit the floor again but got up quickly and continued moving.

"Oh no! You'te not getting away that easily!" she heard him yell behind her.

_I won't be able to go anywhere soon, _she realized as the warning message started screaming before her optics. _I'm getting too low._

Her optics fell onto a hornet that seemed to be just standing there. Knowing it was her only chance she charged over to it, avoiding those plasma blasts coming from Zurg's gun, and grabbed it, biting it as soon as her hands were on it and draining the energy.

The robot's power didn't do much on repairs but it did make the warning go away. She felt a bit better now as she dropped the drained shell onto the floor but that didn't do much to help her situation. Zurg was still after her and now some of the hornets seemed to have the same idea. They also gave chase, firing away.

She had to get out of there.

The femme's optics fell onto the door. It was her only chance. Unable to transform due to the damage, she took off running.

* * *

"Uh hi," XR said, backing away from the energy vampire who got out of his chair and moved toward him. "I was looking for something. Have you seen it?"

His bad excuse didn't work. "I know what you were doing," Nos-4-a2 told him, smirking. "Your Autobot friend sent you in here to take care of me." he laughed. "_You_ of all people! He should have known it was a bad idea, after all you're afraid of me."

The energy vampire was right about that. XR _was_ scared of him and who could blame him? He felt the biggest urge to run but he knew he could not do that. Prowl was counting on him to take care of the energy vampire so Sari would be freed from his control.

"Now let's not get too hasty here," he said, putting up his hands. "We can both avoid trouble by you just dropping your control on the girl and allowing her to return to herself."

"Drop my control?" he laughed again. "Why would I want to do that? I rather like her the way she is." he rubbed his fingers against his cape then looked at the sharp nails. "Allowing her to have her free will back wouldn't be a wise idea seeing as then she would betray me and I can't have that. Besides, I rather like her the way she is, she's not so annoying anymore."

Well trying to convince him was a dead end. That only left force. "Nos-4-a2!" he shouted, pointing a finger into his face. "If you don't cease and desist controlling that girl I'm going to-"

"You're going to what?" the energy vampire asked. "Use that same trick you did back on Star Command? Blow me up like Ty Parsec did?" he snickered. "My dear little one, you should know by now that you are not the one with the advantage here." he grasped the chair and lifted it easily. "I on the other hand have everything you don't!" then he threw the chair.

XR moved quickly to avoid being hit by the flying piece of furniture. As he did Nos-4-a2 activated his wings and lunged at him. The robot space ranger let out a yelp and turned on his jetpack, shooting up and over the robot's head.

The energy vampire let out a roar and flew after him. XR maneuvered in the air, barely avoiding the vampire. The room was too cramped to do much of anything except zip out of the way when his claws got too close. He would have to get out of there and hope Nos-4-a2 followed him.

When the vampire made a grab for him dodged out of the way and shot out the door and into the hall.

"You won't escape me that easily, little one," the vampire called, flying after him.

"Craters," he grumbled. "Now how am I going to deal with him now?" He hadn't really come up with a plan at all. "Ugh the things I do for my fellow machines." he looked back and saw Nos was catching up. "Ah!"

Nos-4-a2 laughed. "Resist me not, Litte One," he called. He was almost upon the smaller robot now. Just one little swipe and he'd come down. Lovely.

But he never got to do it.

Just then a huge orb of blue energy shot down the hall toward him. XR instantly moved out of the way but Nos-4-a2 wasn't fast enough. The orb hit him head on. When it impacted with him it exploded, making his wings deactivate and knocking him back. He crashed onto the floor, his entire frame screaming in agony.

"Ow," he moaned, sitting up and rubbing his aching head. "What the bloody heck was that?"

"That would be me," a familiar voice spoke up.

Nos looked toward it. Further down the hall he caught sight of the Autobot and a figure standing next to him. Sari. Her eyes were blue again which meant she was no longer his servant.

"How'd you break my control!?" he exclaimed, shocked.

"Oh, it was easy," she said, walking toward him, smirking. He noticed something in her hand. A key? "I just needed a little help from a friend."

At that moment XR flew up beside her and as he did so the draft blew up her skirt. She yelped in surprise and pilled it back down. XR stared at her, looking innocent. "Sorry," he said.

"You stupid jerk!" she yelled, kicking off his head. "You just ruined the moment, pervert!"

XR's disembodied head landed at Prowl's feet. "Yeah she's her normal self again." he commented, looking annoyed.

"You didn't have to fly past her," Prowl pointed out, reaching down and picking it up.

"I didn't think she would to that!" the other robot protested. "and how was I supposed to know that that would happen to her dress?"

"Oh sure," she growled, folding her arms. "Just make up excuses, you haven't changed at all."

"Well neither have you!" he shouted. "I can't believe I nearly got myself killed to save your sorry servos!"

"Wait what?" she blinked.

"You heard me, you ungrateful little-"

"Okay that's enough," Prowl spoke up. "No reason to use such language."

"She started it!"

"I did not!"

While the group argued Nso-4-a2 took advantage of their distraction and pushed himself off the floor. He activated his wings and shot back down the hall. The sound of his roar alerted the others.

"He's getting away!" Sari shouted, moving to stop him. "Well I'm not going to let him. That creep-"

Prowl's hand on her arm prevented her from going anywhere. She looked back at him with wide eyes. He shook his head. "Let him go," the Autobot said. "He won't get far in the state he's in."

"I hope you're right," she said, watching the energy vampire vanish around the corner. "Because when I see him again I'm going to teach him to control me like that!"

"Let's get out of here," Prowl advised.

* * *

Shadowstar had managed to get away from Zurg and the hornets, but not before gaining more damage from point blank shots. Even though her energy levels were out of the danger zone it didn't help her in other areas. One of her legs was dislocated and bleeding mech fluid behind her. She knew if that kept up she would die not from being low on power, but from losing too many vital fluids.

"Sparks," she cursed, leaning against the wall as she limped down the hall. "I knew this was a bad idea. I shouldn't have ever agreed to it. I should have just killed that Wannabe when I had the chance instead of obey Zurg's orders about bringing him back! How dare he outsmart me! I was supposed to outwit him!"

She stumbled and nearly fell but caught herself in time. "I have to get out of here," she said to herself. "I can't let them kill me. have to-"

Suddenly she was hit by a blast of plasma. She screamed in pain and was knocked to the floor on her back. Pieces of her wings snapped off and littered the floor. She took a sharp intake of breath, forcing herself not to cry out. But it hurt so much she couldn't hold back a whimper.

"So we meet again."

Shadowstar lifted her head and found Nos-4-a2, his cape rip to shreds and his frame covered in scratches, leaning over her. He was smiling. "I didn't expect to run into you so soon," he stated reaching out a hand and grabbing her chin. "How lovely that I get to have my revenge so soon."

The femme really didn't need this right now. "G-get away from me!" she screamed, slapping his hand away.

He looked at his hand, noticed the scratches on it from her claws then shrugged it off. "What do you intend to do if I don't?" he asked, his optics scanning her severely damaged frame. "From what I can see you can't do much of anything in your current state."

"I can still bite you!" she snapped, hoping that would work.

He laughed, completely unfazed. "I'd love to see you try." then he slammed his hand into her shoulder, shoving her onto her back.

Shadowstar tried to get up but he landed on top of her, grabbing her wrists and pinning them over her head. Even if he didn't have legs he could still hold her down by the weight of his body. "Looks like your time is up," he stated. "You've had your fun but now it's time you realized just who is the real vampire around here." his optics fell onto her neck. "and seeing as you went and invaded my personal space with that mouth of yours, I think I'll take back what is rightfully mine."

He leaned over her and she knew right away what he intended to do. She struggled to free herself but she was just too damaged and weak to do anything. After only a few seconds she was worn out and had to rest. The moment she did so she felt his fangs sink deeply into her neck.


	41. Chapter 41

CHAP 41

Booster, Mira, and Warp Darkmatter were close to giving up. They couldn't seem to be able to kill the hornets because others took the places of the ones that fell. This had been going on for quite awhile and they were feeling it. Even space rangers with high stamina wore out eventually.

"I'm getting tired," Booster commented.

":I am too, Booster," Mira agreed, shooting another hornet that got a little too close. "But we can't give up. If we stop they will kill us."

The red alien didn't want that to happen but he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this up. He glanced over at Warp who looked like he was about to fall over with exhaustion. "Craters, I hate hornets." Darkmatter grumbled before taking out another one.

Suddenly something strange happened. All the hornets suddenly powered down and fell over, crashing onto their sides at the same time. The sound of falling robots echoed around them with a strange finality. They waited for a second but the robots did not get back up.

The space rangers and Warp stared at them with confusion. "Huh?"

"What just happened?" Booster asked, toeing one of the machines sheepishly.  
"I don't know," Mira replied, kneeling down and poking another. "But it looks like somebody turned off the power."

"But who?" the red alien asked, looking at her. "Buzz isn't here."

"Not everything done well has to be because of Buzz Lightyear," Warp informed him, frowning. "He's not God, you know."

"Hey, don't you dare say anything mean about Buzz!" Booster shouted, feeling defensive for the Space Ranger. "He's the best-"

"Yeah yeah I know," Darkmatter cut him off, rolling his eyes. "He's the greatest Space ranger on Star Command. Woopdee do." He deactivated the gun and his hand went back to normal. "But he's still not here as you said which means somebody _else_ turned them off."

"That would be me," spoke up a voice.

The three looked toward the monitors which once held Nos-4-a2's visage. Now the screens had a different face. XR's.

"XR!" Mira and Booster exclaimed.

"Hi," he said smiling and waving.

"How'd you manage to gain control of the system?" the Tangean princess wanted to know.

"Oh that was easy," he replied. "Nos-4-a2 took off after Sari pummeled him with a energy sphere."

"Sari?" the space rangers looked at each other. "Sari's back to normal? How did that happen?"

"It's a long story," he replied. "and I'll explain later. Right now I think we'd better go looking for him. He might not have Sari under his control anymore but we can't allow him to get away either. Same with that fembot. Prowl keeps insisting we find her as well and I agree with him. They should both still be in the palace somewhere."

Mira nodded to him. "Then we're on it," she replied. She touched Booster's arm. "Let's go."

They took off, leaving Warp Darkmatter alone amongst a mess of robots. He looked down at them then moved to follow the rookies. "Just where do you think you're going?" XR's voice boomed from the loud speakers.

Warp looked up at him. "I don't think that's any of your business," he stated.

The robotic space ranger grinned evilly. "Oh, I think it _is_."

Suddenly a whole group opf hornets came back online and surrounded the man, their arms raised, guns aimed at his head. "Hey! Now there's no need for that!"

"I believe there is in this case," the robot responded. "I get the feeling you're planning on helping a certain little femme escape the palace."

"What gives you such an idea?"

"Oh don't give me that," he shot back. "I might be a machine but I'm not stupid. I saw how you were flirting with her. It's obvious you have feelings for her, man."

"So what if I do?" he snapped, folding his arms across his chest. 'There's nothing wrong with someone falling for a machine since you're always falling for organic females." he pointed out.

"True, but none of the ones I fall for are evil, energy sucking psychotics," XR informed him. "and by the way," he added. "If I could see your feelings for her so plainly that means Zurg does too."

"Oh so now you're bringing him into this!"

The robot smirked, leaning back in the chair. "No, I'm not bringing him into this," he corrected, lasing his fingers behind hins head. "but since he doesn't seem to really like her and vise versa, you're in big trouble either way."

"What do you-"

XR waved at him. "Buh bye! Have fun with those hornets." he said cutting the feed before Warp could say another word.

Just then all the hornets XR brought back online started firing, forcing Darkmatter to defend himself. 'I really hate that robot," he grumbled, blowing the head off one of the black and yellow machines.

* * *

Prowl and Sari were looking for Shadowstar once again. They knew she was somewhere in the palace and acknowledged that they had to find her. She _was_ the cause of the entire problem after all and they couldn't return to their own dimension without her much as they both desired to. "I wish we could," Sari grumbled. "Then we wouldn't have to worry about her anymore."

"We can't do that," Prowl informed her. "As much as I long to not have to worry about her anymore, these people don't deserve to have another energy vampire loose in their universe."

"I know," she consented, sighing. "But I still think we should."

The Autobot chose to ignore that comment and keep moving. He stopped when they entered another room and looked around. This room was round with four doors placed on all sides. The ceiling reached high above their heads. The Autobot noticed near each door was a large statue of, who else, Zurg.

"Who is that?" Sari asked, staring at each of the statues as they stepped into the room.

Prowl opened his mouth to tell her but at that moment he sensed something. "Somebody else is in here," he stated.

The girl looked at him. "Who?"

But he didn't answer. Instead the Autobot took out two throwing stars and ran toward the place where he signal was coming from. Behind one of those ugly statues. Just as he reached it a big three barreled gun appeared and shot him in the chest, knocking him backward and to the floor. "Oooof!" he exclaimed, landing at Sari's feet.

"Are you okay?" she asked him.

He sat up, groaning. "I'm fine," he replied.

"What was that?" the girl asked. "Shadowstar?"

"I-"

"That was me." spoke up a male voice.

Both lifted their heads. A being clad in a purple robe and dark gray armor came into view. Zurg.

Sari raised an eyebrow. "What are _you _supposed to be?" she asked, clearly unimpressed.

"I am the evil emperor Zurg," the being replied, putting a hand on his chest. "and your demise."

She pinched her lips together. "Oh."

"Oh?" he demanded, offended by her lack of intimidation. "I tell you who I am and all you can say is 'Oh'?"

The girl frowned. "What else should I have said?"  
"You should be trembling in fear!" he shouted. "I am the scourge of this galaxy!"

"So you're a pirate then?"

"You'd got a mouth on you, don't you, girly?" he snapped. "and no I am not a pirate!":

"That's what I'm told."

"Argh! Blasted teenagers!" he aimed the gun at her. "How about I give you a second mouth."

She glared at him. "I'd like to see you try it!" she challenged, her hands beginning to glow even as they still gripped Prowl's shoulders.

"Sari," Prowl spoke up. She looked down at him. "Don't bait him. It would not be a good idea."

"But he-"

"No!" he cut her off. "Just don't."

"That's right, listen to your little friend." he advised, walking toward them. "He knows what he's talking about."

The techno organic girl made a face. "So what are you going to do?" she asked. "Shoot us for no reason?"

"I have plenty reason to shoot you," he told her. He moved toward them, having the gun around like it weighed nothing though it was almost as big as he was. "Thanks to you and that bat crazy friend of yours my revenge is ruined and now all my hornets are trying to kill me." he made a sorrowful face, putting a hand on his chest and forcing out a fake tear. "Do you know how horrible it is to be outsmarted by your own creation?"

Sari looked down at Prowl. "What is he talking about?" she asked.

"I believe he means Shadowstar for the most part," he replied, looking thoughtful. "That is the only "friend" I can think of that could be responsible for whatever he's talking about."

"But she's not our friend!" the girl stated.

"I know that and you know that," Prowl said, getting to his feet with some help from the girls. "But maybe _he_ doesn't."

"Are you insulting my intelligence?" the emperor demanded. "Because if you are you're wrong. I know she's not your friend and I know that you-" here he pointed that gun at Prowl."- are something she considers important." he smirked. "Like you're her toy or something. Oh how cute."

The fact that this being out of all creatures knew about the fembots odd obsession with Prowl was unsettling. Had she told him that herself? No, something told Prowl that the female energy vampire would never do something so stupid. _But if she didn't who did?_

Well there was no time to be worrying about that. More important things were on his mind, like finding said energy vampire and taking her back to Star Command so they could all go back to their own dimension. "Look, Zurg," Prowl said, taking a step toward him.

"Don't move!" Zurg shouted, pointing the gun into the cyber ninja's face. "Take one more step and I will blow off your head!"

The Autobot stopped. "I don't know what's going on with you and the Decepticon but I can assure you that after today you won't have to worry about her anymore," he stated. "Just let us go please. We are trying to find her and take her with us. Now if you would just let us-"

"No!" Zurg shouted, cutting him off. He'd trusted one of these crazy vampire before he wasn't going to be dumb enough to do it again. "I don't want to hear it! I don't need you to do anything for me. I'm going to take care of her myself and you're going to stay out of this!"

"I am sorry, but I cannot let you do that," Prowl stated, not backing down. "Even if she did do something to you, she is not your problem."

"She _is _my problem!" Zurg exploded, then, without even explaining what he meant, he shot at them.

Prowl and Sari jumped in opposite directions in an attempt to avoid being hit by the plasma shots.

"Well that didn't turn out well," Sari commented, looking over at Prowl.

The Autobot didn't comment. He jumped out of the way of another shot. The evil emperor seemed more intent on hitting him than hitting Sari. The techno organic girl seemed to notice this as well and ran around to the back of him, a glowing sphere of energy charging up in between her hands. _Okay, jerk face, let's see how you like this!_

She raised her hands to throw the energy but just then Zurg spun around and fired at her.

"Oh snap!" she exclaimed a second before the shot hit her in the chest and knocked her back into the wall.

"Sari!" Prowl threw a star at Zurg who easily dodged it. The Autobot dodged another blast then went into vehicle mode and charged at Zurg.

"Ah!" Zurg exclaimed, dashing away to avoid being hit. "Stop that! Leave me alone!"

While Prowl chased him around Sari got to her feet. Her chest hurt from the blast but otherwise she was fine. He obviously had set the power so that it wasn't fatal. "Ow," she moaned, putting her hand on the sore spot. "What hit me?" she became aware of the sound of Prowl's engine and looked up, her eyes falling on the Autobot chasing Zurg around the room. "Wow."

Just then Zurg lost his footing and tripped. Prowl, to avoid hitting him, swerved to the side then transformed back into standard mode. He placed his hand on the floor and flipped back to where the being was lying.

"Get away from me!" Zurg shouted, scooting away from him.

The Autobot frowned. He opened his mouth to say something then changed his mind. As he turned away something came flying into the room and he ducked to avoid being hit by it as it rocketed over his head. "What was that?"

Sari looked up but didn't see anything. "What was what?" she asked, looking back at him.

"That thing that just flew by," he replied, getting to his feet. "It looked like it had wings."

"Wings?" she knew of only one thing with wings. "Nos-4-a2!" she exclaimed, her fists clenching at her sides. "It's got to be him!"

"How very observant of you," spoke up a voice.

"Huh?"

Prowl looked up. Now he saw the energy vampire hovering over them. He held something on one arm. Shadowstar. She seemed to be offline...

"Hey! What did you do to her?" he demanded.

Nos-4-a2 cocked his head then glanced down at the figure he held. "Oh the wench?" he asked. He glanced at the unconscious robot then back at Prowl. "I just gave what I got. But don't worry, she's not dead. I just drained her energy."

Prowl stared at him, his mouth hanging open. He'd drained her energy?

"So there is no reason to be worrying about your little girlfriend- er I mean mistress." Nos said, dropping the femme. "Here, catch,"

Prowl, out of instinct, rushed forward and caught her in his arms.

"I trust you'll think of what to do with the body," the energy vampire commented, smirking. "Seeing as she and you seem to have some kind of connection." He laughed. "Oh how lovely." then he waved at him and started to move away. "I guess that's it then. I'll just be going now before the space rangers decide to come around. Toodles."

But he didn't get far. Suddenly he was hit by an energy sphere and knocked to the floor. He landed on his stomach, his wings flickering and going out. "Well that was uncalled for," he complained, pushing himself up.

"and that's why I did it," Sari said, moving toward him with another orb hovering over her hand.

"You again!" he growled at her and tried to swipe at her legs when she drew near. She stomped down on his arm, pinning it to the floor. "Ow!"

'There's more where that came from, you creep," she snapped, lifting the orb over her head. "This should teach you to-"

"Sari, don't!" Prowl shouted, turning to her.

She looked at him. "What?"

"You can't do that," he told her.

"But Prowl," she protested. "You don't know what this guy did to me."

"Yes I do," he said, walking toward her, Shadowstar hung limply in his arms before him. "and that is why I'm telling you not to do it. Let the others decide his fate."

"Fine," she consented, lowering her arm. "But can I at least tie him up or something so he doesn't try to get away?"

"Go right ahead."

"Excuse me," Zurg said, getting to his feet. "But I think you're forgetting that I intend to make both of them pay for embarrassing me." he aimed his gun at them. "and you won't stop me from doing so."

Prowl turned to face him. He stood between Nos-4-a2 and the emperor and didn't back down. This guy might be what everyone on Star Command claimed him to be but the Autobot had seen worse and the emperor didn't intimidate him. "You might not believe me," he said. "But we're actually doing you a favor. If you let us take them away they will no longer bother you anymore. Now if you want to risk the chance of them getting the better of you, we can leave them here but if you don't it would be best if you let us do what we're doing. And another thing," he added. "By us taking care of them we're saving you some unwanted agony."

The evil emperor thought about that for a moment then nodded. "You're right," he agreed. "All right, you can take them but if I find out what they did get away." he waved his gun and laughed. "They will be my problem once more."

The Autobot nodded again. "Very well." he consented, looking down at Shadowstar's body. He could see the puncture marks in her neck where the other vampire had bit her. "But if you don't want to get arrested I think maybe you should get out of here."

"I find your concern for me touching," Zurg commented, looking like he meant it. "But you don't have to worry about me. I've been dealing with Star Command for years. I can take care of myself." then he turned away and dashed out of the room.

The Autobot watched him go then focused his attention onto Nos-4-a2 and Sari. The girl had slapped a pair of stasis cuffs onto his wrist. "Where did you get that?" he asked her.

"Oh these?" she asked, pointing to the cuffs. "When Dracula threw Shadowstar at you she dropped them. I figured I'd use them to make sure Fang Face here cooperated."

Prowl couldn't help but smile. She was very resourceful. "I think we'd better find the others now," he told her. "Seeing as we have what we came for."

"Good idea," she said, pulling Nos up. "This place is giving me the creeps."

"Unhand me, you wench!" he shouted at her, trying to struggle free but finding he couldn't do much because the cuffs pacified him.

"Oh shut up," she snapped, pulling him along after her friend. "You don't have me under your mind control anymore, creep, so I don't have to listen to you.. Now." she activated her hammer and waved it menacingly under his nose. "If you want to keep your face in its normal state you will shut your mouth and be a good little vampire and come along quietly."

He roared in her face and she, instead of following through with her threat, deactivated the hammer and slapped him across the face. "Grow up."

"Sari," Prowl called from the doorway. "Stop talking to him and get moving. We have to find the space rangers and let them know we have both vampires."

"Right, Prowl," she said saluting. She yanked rudely on Nos-4-a2's arm then ran to catch up with her friend. "Okay, let's get moving now."

"Ow!" her sudden movement jolted him. "Watch it!" he shouted. "If you're going to arrest me at least try to be gentle about it."

She smirked at him. "Oh I am _so_ sorry," she said sarcastically. "No wait. I'm not." then she started laughing as she ran.

"Ugh, she's back to her annoying self again," the energy vampire grumbled as he was pulled along against his will. "Now I'm going to have to put up with that all the way back to Star Command. Lovely."


	42. Chapter 42

CHAP 42

Mira and Booster weren't having much luck finding Nos-4-a2 or the other energy vampire. Even with the lights back on and the hornets offline thanks to XR the search was still long and hard. "What if XR's wrong?" Booster asked after a moment. "What if they both got out?"

"I don't think they did," Mira told him, looking around as if expecting to see the vampires very soon. Her eyes locked on something. "I _know _they didn't."

"How can you be so sure?"

The Tangean princess pointed down the hall. "Call it a hunch," she said.

The red alien looked to where she was pointing. Down the hall he saw two figures walking toward them. When he squinted he made out Prowl and... "Sari?" he exclaimed, surprised and confused. "Is that Sari?"

Mira nodded. "It sure looks like it," she said. "and it seems like those two have the people we were looking for with them."

The space rangers headed down the hall to meet them. "Prowl! Sari!" they called.

The two, upon hearing their names being called, stopped conversing and looked up. They spotted the space rangers coming toward them.

"Huh?" Prowl said when they drew near. "What are you two doing here?"

"We came here to bring you and XR back," Mira explained, standing in front of them. She folded her arms and made a serious face. "Commander Nebula found out about the two of you stealing the star hopper."

"So he sent you here to bring us back?" he questioned.

"Well not exactly," she said, looking sheepish. "He doesn't know we're here..."

"So you two disobeyed the rules too then?"

She blushed, embarrassed. "Well yeah.."

"I see."

Mira looked at the fembot in Prowl's arms. "Whoa, how did you manage to get her back?"

"Let's just say we had a little help from an unlikely source," he replied, glancing back at Nos-4-a2 who was glaring at everyone. "Who willingly gave her back to us once he finished having his own fun with her."

"Bleck," Sari said, sticking out her tongue. "I'd hate to image what ever _else_ he might have done to her in the meantime."

"Huh?" Mira looked confused.

"Nevermind," Prowl said unwilling to explain what she meant because it would be awkward. "Let's just pick up XR and get out of here."

"But how are we going to get back to Star Command?" Mira wanted to know as they walked down the hall toward the control room. "I mean our ships can't hold more than two people at a time and counting Sari, Shadowstar, and fang face there that makes five people.."

"I don't think you have to worry about that," Sari stared smirking. "I seem to remembering parking _42_ in the atmosphere. All we have to do is have someone go up and get it and we can take that and the ships you brought back to Star Command no problem."

* * *

_Two hours later_

"Well nothing's changed," Prowl stated, coming into 42's control room after checking on the prisoners in the brig. "Shadowstar is still unconscious."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Mira asked, turning to stare at him. "I mean after all she's done to you and stuff I'd think you'd be happy that she's offline. Well not offline just kind of out of it which makes me wonder why you would be happy that she's unconscious anyway since that doesn't mean she's dead and things would be better for you if she was and-"

"I think I get the point," he said, flopping down in the co-pilot chair. He leaned forward, resting his head in his hands. "The thing is I would rather have her online than off, since her being this was is unpredictable. Any minute she could wake up and cause trouble. If she was awake I would have one less thing to worry about."

"I don't think you need to worry about that either," the Tangean Princess replied. "I mean XR and Sari are in the brig keeping an eye on them."

"No, they're keeping an eye on Nos-4-a2," the cyber ninja corrected, looking over at her. "They're so intend on watching him and making sure he doesn't cause any trouble that I doubt they even know Shadowstar is in the other cell."

"I'm sure they do," she told him. "XR's might be a jerk sometimes but he's reliable. I can assure you that he's perfectly aware that she's in the other cell and will tell us if she wakes up." then she thought betetr of it. 'Then again he's not so reliable. I remember he once.."

"I hope so," Prowl said before she could start rambling again.

She sent him a reassuring smile then went back to controlling the ship. "You know, Prwl," she said. "and this might be totally of topic but now that you have the energy vampire and thus have one less problem to worry about there is another thing that is way more important."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," she said. "Even though you have her it didn't really change much. You're still stuck in this dimension and..."

Why did she have to remind him? "I know," he said impatiently. "There is still that."

"Maybe I can help with that," a voice spoke up.

The two turned in their seats and looked at the speaker, a small Grub. Nimrod. "What do you mean?"

When the group left the planet the Grub had come up to them and begged to be taken off. When asked why he'd replied by saying he'd been promised freedom and he didn't want that promise to be broken. After they'd question him further about it he'd told them Shadowstar had vowed to help him leave and set up a new life. Of course that was a surprise since Shadowstar was considered by both groups to be an evil, selfish, energy vampire who cared about nobody but herself. It didn't make sense that she would make such a promise but stranger things had happened so they didn't question it further.

Not wanting to disappoint the insect they'd given him a lift. They would drop him off in Trade World before going to Star Command with their prisoners.

"Do you remember the portal Zurg created by accident between this world and it's mirror opposite?" the Grub questioned them.

"Yes, what about it?" Mira replied.

"I think I might be able to reproduce it," the insect replied. "But it would take awhile since I don't know the co-ordinance for your own dimension or anything like that."

Prowl stared at him, unable to say anything. He could do that? For real? "What does he mean?" he asked Mira.

She frowned. "It's a long story," she told him, her tone hinting that she would rather not talk about it.

But Prowl was curious. "We both have the time," the Autobot replied, folding his arms. "So why don't you tell me."

She sighed, knowing it was hopeless to avoid it, then began.

* * *

"Would you kindly stop that blasted noise?!" Nos-4-a2 shouted, glaring at XR and Sari who stood outside the cell singing "The Emo Vampire Song". "You're giving me a processor ache!"

"Did you hear something, XR?" Sari asked, pretending to ignore the energy vampire.

"Nope," he said, grinning evilly. "Didn't hear a thing."

"Then I guess it was the wind," she stated.

"Don't ignore me, you little brats1" Nos shouted. "I know you can hear me! If you don't shut up this instant I'll-"

"You'll what?" Sari asked, turning to him. She walked over to the cell and looked in at him, smirking. "As long as those cuffs are on, you can't do anything. One more thing," she added, tapping her finger against the bars with a sadistic grin on her face. "Those cuffs also prevent you from using that dorky mind control of yours. I know this because I did a check when I slapped them on you so..." her grin widened with wicked glee. "No mind tripping for you, fangy."

"Speaking of which," XR said. "Do you think we could keep those things when you and your friend go back to your own world? They would come in handy."

"Sorry," she said, turning back to him. "We have to use those things when Shadowstar wakes up to keep her from trying to get away. That is if she wakes up," she added.

"Oh craters," he grumbled, looking irritated.

"Hey, if you're so bent on getting your hands on a pair maybe I can make you one."

The robot eyed her. "You?" he looked doubtful.

"Of course," she replied. "I can do lots of things. After all I know how to fly your ship and I didn't even take any lessons."

"How do you do that?"

"I don't know," she admitted, shrugging. "I just can."

"Well that's weird," he commented, thoughtfully. "I mean I know how my stuff works because I was shown the blue prints and stuff by the LGMs and your friend Prowl seems to know how he got his abilities. It just seems odd that you don't know."

"To be honest I don't really know much about my origins or why I can do what I can do," she admitted. "Nobody told me much about it so I can only make guesses."

"Like?"

"Forget it," she said, no longer wishing to discuss it. Just thinking about it depressed her. "I don't want to talk about it anymore." she crossed the room and sat down beside him, resting her elbows on her knees and looking into the energy vampire's cell. "Hey, XR."

"Hmm?"  
"You ever heard the song "I know a song that annoys everyone?"

He smiled. "Of course I do."

Then the two proceeded to sing the song, getting louder and louder each time they had to repeat it.

"Craters," Nos-4-a2 grumbled, falling back onto the cot. "Now I'm going to have to put up with that the rest of the way to Star Command. Can't those two ever shut up?"

* * *

_A few hours later._

Commander Nebula was not happy when the group first stepped out of _42_ but when he saw who they had with them, his expression softened. "So you got what you came for then," he said to Prowl. The man looked at Sari. "It's good to see that you're your normal self again."

Sari looked away. Prowl had told her what the commander had allowed to happen to her and she wasn't very happy with him but she also was told about what happened to Buzz so she knew she had to say something even if she didn't want to. "I'm sorry about Buzz," she told him. "I hope you realize that if I had been myself I never would have done that to him."

"Don't blame yourself," he told her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I know it wasn't your fault. "

She nodded. "Thank you."

"No problem," he said. "Now for the energy vampire." he turned to Nos-4-a2 wo was being held between Mira and Booster. "We can't have him running around the galaxy causing problems and incarcerating him doesn't seem to do any good. I believe he should be shut down so he can no longer be a problem."

"Are you mad?" the energy vampire exclaimed horrified by his proposal. "You can't do that! You have no right to do that to me!"

The commander's face said otherwise. They both knew he would never change and more trouble would follow if he was kept online. Everyone knew that but... it didn't make Prowl feel any better. Much as he realized doing so would be the best he didn't agree with it. "Isn't that a big extreme?" he asked.

"Huh?"

Everyone looked over at him.

"I know he's an evil energy vampire and has caused many problems but do you have to terminate him?" the Autobot questioned.

"Prowl," Commmander Nebula said, turning to him. "You don't know everything this guy has done. He's gone so far as to turn everyone in the galaxy into wirewolves just to feed his sick obsession."

"I never said he wasn't guilty," Prowl told him. "It's just that."

"Just what?"

Prowl looked down at Shadowstar who he held in his arms. She was still unconscious. "He's a living being," he said. "He's a robot but he's alive and had a free will and a personality...."

"Prowl," Sari said, staring at him like he was a total stranger. "That guy is a creep, why are you defending him?"

Prowl didn't know the answer himself. He shook his head. "It just feels wrong."

"This is still not your decision to make, Prowl," Commander Nebula informed him, pointing into his face. "I would advise you to stay out of this. The only thing you need to worry about is how you're going to get back to your own universe. Let me and my rangers worry about Nos-4-a2. You don't seem to understand the situation here, possibly because you're a machine yourself-"

"That is not true" the Autobot cut him off. He shot the man a cold stare, unable to believe that he would accuse him of such a thing, as if he didn't care about anyone there... and how _dare_ he make such assumptions just because he was a machine. "Just because he's a villain doesn't mean he deserves to die. I sympathize on how you no longer wish to deal with him but permanently shutting him down won't solve anything." he looked back at the femme as he continued. "Do you really think that having him turned off would prevent anything from happening again? For all you know he could just be found and brought back."

"Not if we dismember him."

Nos-4-a2's optics widened in horror. "No! I will not allow i!"

Prowl looked at him then at Commander Nebula. "From what XR has told me Nos-4-a2 has been blown up before and look he's still alive," he pointed out. "He can be put back together. Not matter what you do to his parts he can still come back." he noticed the man seemed to be thinking up another solution. "No."

"You don't even know what I'm going to say."

"I don't have to it's obvious," he stated. "Your next option would to incinerate the parts or use them for different things." _How dare you defile a machine like that!_ "You'd shut him down, take him apart, and destroy or reuse his parts in other things. Now let me tell you honestly. If I was in his place I would not want that to happen to him." he handed Shadowstar to Sari so he could gesture better. "Just thinking about it makes me uncomfortable since I am a machine myself. I don't care what he's done to you in the past that kind of thing is uncalled for." _and it's wrong. I don't care if he is evil. Doing so is a violation. _

"You still don't have any say."

'Maybe not," Prowl replied. "But I don't know how long Sari and I will be stuck here and if you try to do this while we are I won't allow it."

Commander Nebula knew he was right. Nobody knew how long the cyber ninja and his friend would be stuck there since nobody seemed to know of any way to send them back. "What do you suggest we do then?"

"For now I would suggest incarceration in a cell that he can't easily get out of." he pointed at the femme. "Same for her. I don't know how much longer she will be out but we can't take any chances." he added. "Once we are gone you can do with him as you see fit."

"Fine." Nebula consented. "We'll send them both to PC-7 for now."

As the space rangers led Nos-4-a2 away and Sari followed with Shadowstar, Commander Nebula turned to Prowl and asked. "Incidentally how did she end up like that?"

"Nos-4-a2." Prowl replied before moving to follow the others, leaving the man standing there open mouthed.

* * *

_A few days later_

"I still don't know," Nimrod the Grub said, testing something on the computer. "I've checked through everything and I can't seem to be able to replicate the accident that opened the first portal." he frowned at the screen. "Something seems off."

"Oh great," Sari grumbled, from her seat at another computer console. "So what are you going to do then? Give up?"

"No," he replied, shooting her a look of irritation. "I'm going to keep working."

After sending Nos-4-a2 and Shadowstar to PC-7 the space rangers had visited Buzz Lightyear. He's said he was doing fine and would be up before they knew it. In the meantime they decided to work on the space bridge that would send Prowl and Sari and the other energy vampire back to their own world. Since Nimrod, Shadowstar's little Grub friend, seemed to know something about it he was given the task of building it. Of course Sari offered to help for two reasons. She seemed to know a lot about bridges and she wanted to avoid XR whom she still considered a pervert. So they worked together on the project but things still seemed to be taking awhile.

"Why don't you let me try something?" she asked.

"Not again," he grumbled. "Last time I let you it only made it worse." he pointed at the half constructed bridge below them. "I don't know what you did but it set us back another few days."

"Did not!" she snapped.

"Did too!" he he shot back hotly. "I thought you said you had the power to fix things easily."

"I do."  
"Then _why _did it break?"

"I don't know."

"Just stay out of my way," he ordered. "Try working on something else and leave the construction to me."

"Okay fine." she got up and headed out of the room.

"Where are you going?"  
"Someplace where I can think!" she snapped before the door shut on her.

The girl walked down the hall, grumbling to herself. "Stupid machine and its stupid builder. Why didn't it work?" she looked at her hands. "I can usually fix things easily with these powers how come nothing happened this time? How come it only made things worse?" she dropped her hands and sighed. "I guess I can't rely on it for everything. Maybe I've grown so used to it that I'm taking it for granite."

She found a bench and sat down in it, resting her chin in her hands. "Maybe I should just let Nimrod do what he's doing and use my ability when he's done and it's ready."

But she did not want to wait. It had been more than a week since this whole thing started and she just wanted to go home. Home with her dad and Optimus and Bumblebee. She even missed Ratchet though he was a big grouch. "Sorry guys," she said, closing her eyes to hold back her tears. "I guess you'll just have to wait a little longer."

"Sari?"

She raised her head. Prowl stood over her, looking worried. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"No," she said not even attempting to pretend otherwise. "I want to go home."

"I do too," he told her, sitting down on the bench beside her. He was still so small, she would never get used to him being the size of a grown man instead of as big as a house. "But we must be patient."

"I don't _want _to be patient!" she shouted. "I've waited long enough! I'm sick of this and I'm sick of them! I want to go home! I want Dad to come in and kiss me good night, I want to help Optimus to loosen up, I want to pose for Bulkhead's paintings, I want to try to cheer up Ratchet and I want to hang out with Bumblebee! I want to be with my _friends_."

"Am I not your friend?" the Autobot asked.

Sari jumped and looked at him. He seemed sad. "Of _course _you are," she said quickly. "I didn't mean it like that. I only meant that I want to see the others and.." she looked away. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too."

"For what?"

"For everything." he looked away. "If I hadn't wanted to go to Cybertron this never would have happened. We'd both still be in our world and and you never would have been kidnapped and turned into a slave to that vampire." he shook his head. "and I'm also sorry I did not save you when I had the chance."

"Why didn't you?" she asked. "I wondered..."

"I was scared," he admitted. "The moment I tried to get you I had a flashback about what the other vampire did to me and I panicked." he looked at her. "My self preservation kicked int. I did not mean for you to be left behind."

She placed her hand on his. "Don't let it bother you," she said, meeting his eyes. "It wasn't your fault. I can't blame you for running, after what she did to you. It was a natural reaction." she smiled. "I would have done the same thing if it had been me."

In spite of himself he returned it. "You know I'm homesick too."

"You are?"

"Of course," he said. "You think I want to stay here? I've got things to do plus I've been worried about something."

"What?" she asked curiously.

"I've been worried that Bumblebee will cut down my tree in my absence."

Sari laughed. "Knowing him he would."

"I hope not," he stated. "Because if he did I'm have to return the favor..."

"How?"

"I don't know," he admitted."But I'd think of something."

Just then a explosion rocked the air. The two looked at each other. "The control room!" Sari shouted, getting to her feet. "Come on."

Both dashed back toward the control room. When they reached it the doors opened and two figures stepped out. Nimrod and XR. Both were covered in smoke. "Okay so maybe that didn't work either," XR stated, coughing.

"XR!" Sari exclaimed, staring at him in surprise. "What were you doing in there?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" he asked, wiping off the smoke stained. "I was trying to help you go home."

"Help is not the word I'd use." Nimrod snapped, folding his arms. "You ruined it! Now I have to rebuild the whole thing!"

"What?!" Sari exclaimed. "Are you telling me he blew up the bridge?!"

"Among other things," the grub replied. He gave them a sheepish smile. "Sorry, but it looks like you're going to be here awhile longer."

Sari looked like she was going to say something to that but Prowl grabbed ger hand and led her away. "Prowl!" she shouted as they walked down the hall. "Why did you do that? Now we're stuck here! I'm going to go crazy!"

"Sari," Prowl said, looking back at her. "I know you might not want to hear this but I figured that instead of making a big deal about it why don't we just try to get the best out of this situation?"

"Like how?" she snapped. "This place is boring. I'm sick of seeing it. How can I make the best out of it?"

He smiled. "I have a few ideas."

"Huh?"

"Lightyear told me there are other planets besides the ones we've been to in this galaxy," he said. "and since we can't go home right away I concluded that we should visit them to pass the time. It would get our minds off the problem and make time go a lot faster." he smiled at her. "What do you say? We can take one of the two person ships and go by ourselves. They don't have to come with us."

She thought about that for a moment then nodded. "Okay fine," she agreed. "Just as long as I don't have to see this place anymore."

"Don't worry, he assured her. "I'll make sure you don't have to come back here until the bridge is complete."

She smiled. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.. "Lead the way."

To Be Continued?


End file.
